Swatch1 Interview
Part 6
AC: What do you think about the way graffiti has been documented thus far?
SW1: I think Henry Chalfant did a great thing for graffiti, but has profited off writers for long enough. Martha Cooper's new book,
R.I.P.
about graffiti memorial walls was so full of bubblegum information that I still laugh when I think about it. Zines are another thing. They're cool and I've worked with lots of them for years, but it's basicaly a love/hate thing. If you think about it, no real New York graff writer does a phat zine. I want to change all that and stop outsiders from cashing in on New Yorkers. I also dislike the cheap quality of a lot of zines, and especially the lack of intelligence shown in the zines: bad spelling, dumb interviews, no important issues, etc. I think the best are
ON THE GO
and
SKILLS. Fly id will be on that list soon!
Videograf
is a whole story all together. My internet beef with them was a result of a dispute that a friend of mine had with them, it's been settled and I'm not attacking them all out anymore. But I'm not going to hold back any opinions I have on them. I think the novelty of their idea is worn out and unless they get a grip and improve their product, their market will fall out. Any real New York writer wants nothing to do with them, because they know all the rumors and don't want anybody to profit from them. And after their run in with the police and the news, I doubt their credibility and confidentiality!!! But the market is there and writers around the globe want a graff video, whether or not it has New Yorkers in it. Video Graff # 8 has my partners in crime Clark and Ces in an interview. I've done trains with Clark and Cope that they have footage of, but that's their own editorial right not to use it, and I don't fault them for that. But a lot of writers are thinking about the footage they sent in, or why they get cut out and the problem there is that. To a real New York graffiti gangsta it's like getting played, or dissed, or wasting their valuable time. ON THE GO'S "REPEAT OFFENDER" is an awesome video, even without Clark and Espo doing that top to bottom on the clean train.
As for
Upski's book, its cool, but he's basically a writer in the hiphop scene and the real wigger that he claims to hate so much. It should have more graff in it, and not be so heavy on the text, but that's just my opinion. I'm glad he did what he did.
AC: What do you think of the internet? What about graf on the net?
SW1: I think the internet is cool if you want to find research information, and see cool homepages. But most graff writers on the net I'm sure that they are not the true vandals they claim to be. I don't want to piss anybody off or give anybody the wrong idea, so I'll hold back on my answer. Also especially since I'm working an article about internet graff for the first issue of FLYiD.
As for the internet in general, I'm sure some people could benefit from existing in a faceless net culture, but it's sad that people immerse themselves in it. All the hate email I get when I attack someone on the net or break some netiquette rule just goes to show what kind of sad sacks live the internet life. Generally New Yorkers are very savvy, street smart and cynical. So when I get into the chat groups and go crazy, like dissing the pope, or telling foul two-part question jokes that no New Yorker would fall for... It's just a fun way of killing time, and being a graff writer I like breaking rules. So I usually get thrown out by the online host and it doesn't faze me because it's not an important part of my life to be accepted by internet geeks. Someone may be reading this online and saying he's calling me a geek, but I'm not talking about people who seek information on their own personal interests like graffiti. Just the people who want to chitchat online with cute names and distorted images of their true selves.
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Videograf
is a whole story all together. My internet beef with them was a result of a dispute that a friend of mine had with them, it's been settled and I'm not attacking them all out anymore. But I'm not going to hold back any opinions I have on them. I think the novelty of their idea is worn out and unless they get a grip and improve their product, their market will fall out. Any real New York writer wants nothing to do with them, because they know all the rumors and don't want anybody to profit from them. And after their run in with the police and the news, I doubt their credibility and confidentiality!!! But the market is there and writers around the globe want a graff video, whether or not it has New Yorkers in it. Video Graff # 8 has my partners in crime Clark and Ces in an interview. I've done trains with Clark and Cope that they have footage of, but that's their own editorial right not to use it, and I don't fault them for that. But a lot of writers are thinking about the footage they sent in, or why they get cut out and the problem there is that. To a real New York graffiti gangsta it's like getting played, or dissed, or wasting their valuable time. ON THE GO'S "REPEAT OFFENDER" is an awesome video, even without Clark and Espo doing that top to bottom on the clean train.
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