All posts tagged: Espeis Outside

Gaia and NohJColey Wreck a Big Wall in Brooklyn

Gaia and NohJColey Wreck a Big Wall in Brooklyn

January 16, 2010 , , ,

Culminating weeks of prep, “Mutual Discrepancy” goes up, with both artists feeling good about street art in the new year.

(SEE Nicolas Heller Film of the installation at End of this Posting)

On Friday two young and hungry New York Street Artists combined their artistry, critical intellects, and kinetic energy (and questionable dancing skills) to help define street art for a new generation on the cusp of the 2010’s.

Gaia and NohJColey

Paint, paper, ladders, wheat-paste, razors, brushes, mashups, jazz messengers, rough housing, and bad dancing. OH yeah they rock hard! Gaia and NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In an age of shifting definitions in the art world, the Street Art world, and, well, the whole freakin’ modern world, you can take heart to know that the kids still know how to have fun, and some of them are willing to work their butts off in pursuit of a vision.

NohJColey

NohJColey prepping the background before the wheat-pasted pieces (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On a 30 foot by 8 foot luhan-wood billboard in Brooklyn, Gaia and NohJColey brought their A Game to the street and auspiciously stretched the definition of wheat-pasted smart-aleck wall-wrecking.

The wall is curated by Brooklyn Street Art for Espeis Outside Gallery.

Gaia

Gaia picking up the choice first cuts of lamb  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Both New Yorkers, they communicated since Thanksgiving via email while Gaia was in school in Baltimore. They traded sketches, ideas, pictures, opinions – and when Gaia’s winter vacation started, they hung out at each other’s studios and kitchen tables planning the collaboration. Both guys had labored over their hand drawn and hand painted pieces for few weeks, so when it was game day, it really felt more like graduation.

Gaia

What’s this I see? Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

Whoops, piece of it ripped. No prob, just lay on the paste (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It was cold on the street yesterday, but no one cared and the mood was celebratory. NohJ even refused to eat because he was too excited to put his work up – eventually he did eat though.

Gaia

Gaia  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

It’s very popular right now to make fun of skinny jeaned hipsters, because, frankly, we have to make fun of somebody.  In Gaia’s case, he’s just skinny. Gaia  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

The double headed furry thing of doooooomb.  (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Horsing around and doing bike tricks and break/dip/jerk dancing of course was a periodic pursuit by galloping Gaia so the work got interrupted by Major Lazer and Free Gucci once in a while. We think it was the cup of coffee that pushed him over the edge – you might as well give him a dumptruck of cocaine – the kid was jumping around like a long-tailed-cat in a rocking-chair convention.

NohJColey

NohJColey had some last minute cutting to do of his pieces on the floor inside where it was warm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Meanwhile, on a totally different wavelength, NohJ was chilling to ear-blasting jazz from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – giving him a valium-nuanced, snappy kind of gait.

Gaia NohJColey

Gaia and NohJColey laying in the back ground depth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: They really look like animals from over here
Gaia: Yeah they don’t look like sh*t when you’re close to them.

Brooklyn Street Art: It looks like you did some mirrored lambs heads.
Gaia: Yeah. I did this mural in Baltimore which was a bear head and then a cow head on another wall, and all the kids at the pre-school thought that the bear was either a seal or a dog.
Brooklyn Street Art: I thought that big bear you did looked like a woodchuck.
NohJ: I always know what your animals are though.

NohJColey

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gimme that sheep! I wanna have it!

Gimme that sheep! I wanna have it! Gaia lends a hand to the giant hand (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So why did you use this ochre color, usually you use just black and white.
Gaia: NohJ and I had talked about something that would tie everything together and make it a little more continuous. I figured I’d just do the color ochre to tie in with the rest of his pieces, so it would make it a little bit more congruous or fluid between the two of us.

NohJColey

NohJColey working with his piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What’s this additional paint layer you are putting into the background on the wood right now?
NohJ: Basically it’s to add dimension. That’s it.
Gaia: And texture…
NohJ: I mean the wood has texture but..
Gaia: It’s a trope.
Brooklyn Street Art: A trope?
Gaia: What were we calling it before? Distressed! It’s a distressed trope. It’s a trope of distress.
NohJ: I like the border on the far right, it’s getting into the “Sepia Zone”.

Gaia and NohJColey

It’s hard for Wall Street to hold it’s head up. (Gaia and NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How long have you guys been planning this piece together?
Gaia: This? Like for a month or two.
NohJ: Yeah like two.

NohJColey

This screen almost looks like it is reading his vital signs. Looks like his heart may need some regulation (NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: NohJ, what’s the New York Stock Exchange logo thing on the little screen?
NohJ: He’s a stock broker. He’s like totally f**king obsessed with trading stocks. He cares nothing about family. He has a new-born son, he cares nothing about it. He just wants to trade stocks. That’s pretty much what it’s about.

NohJColey

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt.  (NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

All the added elements, the watches, the hands with the glass of wine and the cell phone, those are what the person is drawn to and pretty much what they care about on a daily basis. Now there is a lamb, a mutated creature in their midst. But they are so caught up with the pristine life that they’re unable to embrace something or someone that is different.

NohJColey

NohJColey (Detail) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Are people going to know what this piece is about?
NohJ: Probably not.
Brooklyn Street Art: Are you going to try to tell them?
NohJ: I think it’s open.
Gaia: Well the internet always serves as a wonderful place of clarity

Is all in the hands

One of Gaia’s favorite symbols, and one of his hands. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Your styles are so different from one another. Do you feel like it was difficult to collaborate on a piece?
Gaia: Uh, no, not at all.
NohJ: Not really.

Gaia

Working the seam (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia: I actually like when you have collaborations when you have an initial idea and there isn’t too much communication between the two collaborators because then you don’t too much overthink it and it starts to fall apart. You don’t get constipated, you just do your thing.
NohJ: I felt a bit constipated, in the beginning.
Gaia: I mean it’s always tough to begin something.
NohJ: I only felt that way because I’m working with your lamb and I’m like, “What kind of imagery works well with a lamb?”
Gaia: That’s interesting because I knew exactly what I was going to do – two lambs. And you had to do a response to that. I don’t know if that’s fair.
NohJ: Yeah it’s fair.

Gaia

Gaia in an Empire State of Mind (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Well somebody had to start the process.
Gaia: Yeah, I guess. I’m just always a little sensitive about collaboration because of school.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s because you’re a sensitive fella.
Gaia: I don’t know, I try to be. It’s my….it’s how I get girls.
NohJ: Oh that’s how you do it.
Gaia: That’s how I do it.
NohJ: Ahhhhhh, maybe I should.
Gaia: No man, you’re always like back in the corner, you’re like the whisperer guy with the girls.
NohJ: But that’s sensitive too.

Gaia and NohJColey

JUBILATION!  Gaia and NohJColey do a few tricks for the street fans (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Where did you learn all your break dancing skills?
Gaia: I can’t break dance, I wish I could break dance.
Brooklyn Street Art: What is that dance you just did in front of your piece?
Gaia: It’s dipping.
Brooklyn Street Art: Dipping!
Gaia: It’s like L.A. sh*t.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like “Baltimore” Dipping?
Gaia: Yeah Baltimore Dipping.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like a dipping sauce dance!
Gaia: I wish I could f**king break dance. That would be awesome. I’m gonna learn.

 

jhg

THE FINAL PIECE “Mutual Discrepancy” by NohJColey and Gaia

Brooklyn Street Art: Uh-Oh, here comes NohJ with a 40 ounce and two cups.
Gaia: Oh here it comes, double cups!
Brooklyn Street Art: None for me. If I start now I’m in bed by nine.
NohJ: I’ve been busting my ass for this.
Gaia: You have been.

<<<  >  >>>>>>  <<> <<<  >  >>>>>>  <<>


Here is “Mutual Discrepancy” the short film by Nicolas Heller, a NYC/Boston filmmaker who likes to explore personalities on the street.

An aspiring director, Nicolas worked with Gaia on a short over the summer of 2009 and is in the process of doing a documentary on him. You can a short video he did of Gaia and see some of his other film work at NicolasHeller.com.  Many thanks to Nick for his skillz.

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Logan Hicks Creates “Sailor” His Largest Stencil Piece Ever

Logan Hicks Creates “Sailor” His Largest Stencil Piece Ever

November 23, 2009 , , , , , ,

“The Workhorse” gallops through Brooklyn and Sets Another Record

Stencil artist Logan Hicks completed his largest stencil to date today on the streets of Brooklyn. Then he posed for a few photos and ran off to his next art gig.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

As he goes he leaves in his wake a 30′ x 8′ mural dedicated to somebody that keeps Logan’s horse power pumping at full speed, titled simply “Sailor”.

Fresh from his trip to Toronto for a show with another modern stencil master C215 and just before heading to Miami for Primary Flight to do the world’s largest site-specific street level mural with artists like D*Face, Shepard Fairey, Chris Stain, and the London Police, Logan Hicks gave his biggest present to his current hometown of Brooklyn and to his family.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

Moving away from subject matter involving city canyons, tunnels and teaming crowds that he has been closely identified with over the last couple of years, Hicks has been feeling lately like it is time for him to concentrate on the stuff that really matters to him. Family, art, sanity.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

The 5-layered piece required about 150 stencil plates to execute, and we watched what a logistical bad dream can ensue just laying out all the pieces on the sidewalk and following the plan.  Not to mention how wind can whip those well placed plates down the sidewalk toward the East River.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

Curated by Brooklyn Street Art for Espeis Outside, this mural is a hot blast of Logan Red to take us through the impending winter holidays and into the new year.  Not that the burly plain-talking-force-of-nature stencil master has any plans for 2010.

Unless you count the shows he’s scheduled to do in Hong Kong, Paris, Gambia, London, Rome, Vienna, Miami and of course The People’s Republic of Brooklyn (at the Opera Gallery).

“Next year is going to be a little nuts. So basically I am not going to sleep until 2011. I keep telling myself that this is the life that I asked for. The stress gets to be a little much, but I think I secretly like it.”
Logan Hicks

Logan is pretty psyched to be working in what he calls “vector-based” stenciling, and his process is quite complex, even when planning a portrait of a boy with a toy train (photo Jaime Roj0)

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Logan-3

Logan Hicks

Adding a layer, Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art was really happy to hang out with hard-charging but surprisingly somewhat normal Hicks for a couple days this weekend, even helping out with a paint brush once in a while. The sun was pretty bright although it’s duration brief, and the wind did keep everybody humble – but the continuous racket of skateboarders in this industrial neighborhood kept the pace of work lively.  Below is an interview where Logan let’s us know what the story is behind the piece he debuted here.

Logan Hicks

Yep, Brooklyn is part of the Empire State. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Your earlier subject matter tended toward architecture and large anonymous crowds on the street.  More recently you have become more personal in your work. Where did you get the inspiration for this piece?
Logan Hicks: My son – Sailor Hicks, and watching him grow. The funny thing about time is that you don’t realize how fast it is passing until you have a kid to remind you. Each day my son grows, and although I love watching him sprout up, it reminds me of how quickly time is passing. Because I communicate with so many friends through email, I don’t normally realize that so many months have gone by when I see them in the flesh. Now though, when I see someone, I can take note “I haven’t seen you since Sailor started walking” or “I haven’t seen you since he started talking”.  It really punctuates how quickly things go by.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks putting the black frame on to finish the piece (photo Jaime Rojo)

So watching him, it has made me reflect on my life. Made me thing about how much I am changing. Not so much in the physical aspect, but mentally. Striving to refine my craft. Striving to sustain stability. Striving to be a good parent. All this makes me want to be a better person. I look at myself 6 years ago, and I don’t even recognize that guy any more. So with this mural, I just think of it as a quick snapshot of my life. It give me a chance to pause and appreciate my life as it exists now.

Logan Hicks

Father and son. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Does Sailor know he’s going to be immortalized?
Logan Hicks: No, but I don’t think he’s too pressed to take note of anything other than trains, letters, toys, and cars. I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of my reasons for doing this piece is because of an early conversation I had with C215. When I first met C215 I noticed that he kept doing a stencil of this one girl. I asked him who it was and why he kept doing stencils of her. His response floored me. He said that it was his daughter. He didn’t have full custody of his daughter and didn’t get to see her as often as he would like. He said he did at least one stencil a week of her because he didn’t want her to ever think that he forgets about her. That punched a hole in my heart. It was the most brutally honest comment that he could have said. I was amazed that he opened his life up so quickly and said something that was so personal. I guess for me I have always been a bit guarded. The older I get though, the more I realize that I’d be better if i shared more, instead of trying to protect it.

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks with the original illustration he did taped to the mural (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How can an artist put something so personal out in the public?
Logan Hicks: How can an artist NOT put something that is personal? For so long I feel like I have been striving to hone the craft of using stencils. I have worked on the technical side of things and I feel like in the past year or two I have, for the most part, conquered that. So now the question becomes, not how you make it, but what you make with it. For me. I feel like I have started back at square one. I have started to speak about what is most personal to me. I am tired of trying to be witty or technical or vague.

I am trying to filter out all the background noise in my life and make my art. All the haters, all the fans, all the blogs or magazines, or other artists. I think it’s gotten to a point where the best thing that I can do is just retreat into myself and speak honestly about what I am going through. For so long I have worked to gather information. Information about galleries, artists, processes, blogs, magazines, curators, etc. Lately I realized though that none of it matters. The only thing that matters is the here and now. The only thing that matters is what I am going through.

Brooklyn Street Art: How many layers are involved in this stencil?
Logan Hicks: There are 7 colors, but only 5 layers of stencils.

Brooklyn Street Art: What are some of your goals as an artist who works on the street sometimes?
Logan Hicks: Just to do a good job

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Logan-2

Logan Hicks

Logan Hicks (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Does Sailor know he’s going to be immortalized?
Logan Hicks: No, but I don’t think he’s too pressed to take note of anything other than trains, letters, toys, and cars. I wouldn’t have it any other way. One of my reasons for doing this piece is because of an early conversation I had with C215. When I first met C215 I noticed that he kept doing a stencil of this one girl. I asked him who it was and why he kept doing stencils of her. His response floored me. He said that it was his daughter. He didn’t have full custody of his daughter and didn’t get to see her as often as he would like. He said he did at least one stencil a week of her because he didn’t want her to ever think that he forgets about her. That punched a hole in my heart. It was the most brutally honest comment that he could have said. I was amazed that he opened his life up so quickly and said something that was so personal. I guess for me I have always been a bit guarded. The older I get though, the more I realize that I’d be better if I shared more, instead of trying to protect it.

 

fgds

It’s an artist’s tradition to use their own life for inspiration. (photo Logan Hicks)

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Logan-H

Brooklyn Street Art: How can an artist put something so personal out in the public?
Logan Hicks: How can an artist NOT put something that is personal? For so long I feel like I have been striving to hone the craft of using stencils. I have worked on the technical side of things and I feel like in the past year or two I have, for the most part, conquered that. So now the question becomes, not how you make it, but what you make with it. For me. I feel like I have started back at square one. I have started to speak about what is most personal to me. I am tired of trying to be witty or technical or vague.

I am trying to filter out all the background noise in my life and make my art. All the haters, all the fans, all the blogs or magazines, or other artists. I think it’s gotten to a point where the best thing that I can do is just retreat into myself and speak honestly about what I am going through. For so long I have worked to gather information. Information about galleries, artists, processes, blogs, magazines, curators, etc. Lately i realized though that none of it matters. The only thing that matters is the here and now. The only thing that matters is what I am going through.

Logan Hicks

Writing the dedication (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How many layers are involved in this stencil?
Logan Hicks: There are 7 colors, but only 5 layers of stencils.

Brooklyn Street Art: What are some of your goals as an artist who works on the street sometimes?
Logan Hicks: Just to do a good job

Logan Hicks

“Sailor”, by Logan Hicks  (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How important is risk-taking in art?
Logan Hicks: Guess it depends on how you define risk. For me I just want to feel like i have accomplished something. I want to feel that i have done a service to my craft. to my trade. I want to feel that I have spoken honestly about my work, and done the best that i can. One of my favorite quotes is by Paul Rand, who designed the logos for companies like IBM, ABC, UPS, Westinghouse even Enron.  He said “Don’t try to be original. Just try to be good.” That’s a motto that I have sort of lived by. I just try to do a good job. If that means that there is risk involved, so be it, but I don’t search out risk. It’s the sort of thing that you drive by on your way to the final destination.

>>  <<<   > <<< >>>> <<<<<   >>>

Check out the time-lapse we did with Mr. Hicks – and at the end you’ll see the Sailor himself in action with his train.

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“Where the Wild Robots Are” – A New Mural (and video) by Robots Will Kill at Espeis Outside, curated by Brooklyn Street Art

“Where the Wild Robots Are” – A New Mural (and video) by Robots Will Kill at Espeis Outside, curated by Brooklyn Street Art

September 16, 2009 ,

Where are the Wild Things in Brooklyn? Just hang out on the sidewalk.

Just spend a day and a half on the sidewalk painting a big mural and you’ll be met by a barrage of noise – audio and visual – that is a constant state of cacophony and turbulence, and a host of human insight.

A shouting shirtless homeless guy, daredevil teenage skateboarders, gawking tourists with cameras perched aloft, brutish bikers and wirey bicyclists, skinny hipsters, and fast-talking sassy girls sashaying down the sidewalk….  A grizzled sculptor with five-day growth, bent musicians with big black burdens on their backs, real estate developers in wire-rims and pinstripes, monster trucks and sleeveless toughs hanging out the window, and of course “The Empenada” man dragging his blue and white cooler on a luggage carrier yelling, “Empenada! Two dollar! Empenada!”; these are some of the wild things we saw hanging out with these gents for two days. And we loved every minute of it.

 

Sketch

Sketch

Original sketch by Veng (Photo Jaime Rojo)

Veng and Chris worked two days (18 hours) this week to complete the brand new piece in which they pay tribute to the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are”, by Maurice Sendak, published in 1963. It’s a concept they have wanted to paint for a while and their selected scene is a composite of both their painting styles and a few of the scenes in the book. Together they bring the viewer in touch with the power of imagination.

In the original story, the main protagonist, Max, is banished to his room by his mom for acting out around the house and basically being a little punk. While hanging out in his room he begins to imagine a slew of monsters and a jungle and eventually he escapes into a place where he has power over everything and everyone and becomes the King of All Wild Things. Veng and Chris have depicted many characters of their own on the street in the last few years and decided to create some new ones to play the roles here. Veng’s photo-realistic boy looks at peace afloat in this parti-colored boat as he sails toward a cluster of big comic-book bright monsters. Inspired by the whimsical nature of playtime for kids and the untamed imagination that kids have, RWK let their own imagination run wild.

Wallpaper

First, the wallpaper (photo Jaime Rojo)

To create the scene based on Max’s bedroom, where the story begins, they stenciled a wallpaper with their Robots Will Kill logo and washed it out to give it an aged appearance. The Max character, re-created by Veng, is in a boat sailing to an island.

Progress

Progress

He created the boat to have no grounded plane to give the impression of a dreamlike fantasy. To symbolize the island Chris sprays a clump of expectant monsters, clamoring for Max’s attention as he sails toward them, maybe waving, maybe trying to scare him away. The color palette in background the is soft with many neutrals to evoke a nostalgic feeling, while the boat and characters pop out to meet you.

Sketch

Chris’s sketches of the monters (photo Steven P. Harrington)

A little history of Chris and Veng
Chris’s mind is flooded with the imagery and ideas that come from comic books, music, movies, and television from the 1980’s, when he was a kid. His mental journal of these images is a haven for escape, and an inspiration for him to draw from. – Robots are big, but lately he’s been making monsters, and monstrous people.
Tools of the trade

Instruments to inspire (photo Jaime Rojo)

Chris also set in motion RobotsWillKill.com in 2001 as an arts site dedicated to community and exposure for artists/media often disregarded by the mainstream art world. The site opens it’s robot arms to other artists in the graff and street art scene to show work. Robots Will Kill is a collective of Chris, Veng and Kev/Psyn. Their overseas members are ECB (Germany), Peeta (Italy), Flying Fortress (Germany) and JesseRobot (Belgium).

***

fg

Veng’s sketch of the boy in the cat costume (photo Jaime Rojo

Originally from Staten Island, Veng joined Robots Will Kill four years ago. Originally in the graff scene, he evolved his character series beginning about a year ago, attempting to morph his individual characters to become an ironic statement that blurs the line between fantasy from reality. Heavily influenced by the Flemish masters of the 15th century, he captures the figurative emotions of the era, reworked with wit. Veng’s characters warp time and presents an alternate history to encourage the viewer to immerse themselves in a story.
Veng at work

Veng at work (photo Steven P. Harrington)

While the guys were on ladders painting “Where the Wild Robots Are”, BSA asked them some questions;

Brooklyn Street Art: So how is your progress on the piece so far?
Veng: So far so good. Just got finished with the sail and now it’s the portrait. And I have to finish with the cat outfit that he’s wearing.

Brooklyn Street Art: The cat outfit?
Veng: Yes to represent Max.

detail

Veng using a fine instrument for some fine detailing (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: I thought he had a wolf outfit.
Veng: Not in this one. In this one it’s a cat outfit.

Brooklyn Street Art: (to Veng) Did your parents read this book to you?
Veng: I remember lookin at it, I don’t remember them reading it to me. But we had it. I’m sure they did read it to me.

What do you think?

Stepping back a bit, the execution is underway (Photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you seen many wild things on the street in the last day?
Veng: Yeah some guy that would not stop talking to us. Lucky for me I had my headphones on and I avoided the whole four hour conversation. But other than that it’s actually been nice. It’s a different pace than painting in Bushwick which is actually more rough – Less people walking around, more industrial. This is kind of more residential and friendly. A lot of people have been inquisitive about what is going on. So far, no negative feedback.

The Devil is in the details...

Veng uses many sizes of caps to get photo-realism effects (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Plus there have been a few skirts that have walked by.
Veng: Yes! And the neighborhood definitely has it’s advantages as far as females go.

Brooklyn Street Art: Well you’ve done your share of murals on the street. So which neighborhood has more monsters?
Chris: More monsters? That’s a tough question because a lot of monsters are in disguise so you can’t really tell who’s who. But every neighborhood has it’s pluses and minuses.

Friendly Monsters

Friendly Monsters by Chris (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you want to describe your style of collaboration with each other?
Chris: Usually we come up with an idea and we brainstorm it until the night before we have to do it. As we talk more, more ideas begin to come together. We think a lot alike so it works well.

Chris fine brush work

Chris fine brush work

Brooklyn Street Art: (To Chris) Did your parents read this book to you?
Chris: When I was a kid it was my favorite story. I remember seeing the book in the bookstore and then I remember getting it. And then I remember watching it on PBS when I was a kid and being so enamored with the whole idea of the imagination and going to this other world. So throughout my life I have probably had at least 10 copies of this book.

Friendly monsters

Hey, look at me in the back!  Woo hoo!  (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Really?
Chris: Yeah, whether it was because I gave one to someone because they never had it or because my one got beat up and I got one that was in better condition or a hard cover one and usually if any of my friends have a kid I usually get it for them for their birthday?

Almost ready to sail away

Almost ready to sail away (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Why is it so important to you?
Chris: I don’t know.. I think it’s the idea of the imagination. I think it’s just the idea of the kid dressing up in the costume and not being happy with what he’s doing every day and he wants to find a different place. That’s pretty much how I feel. I go to work every single day and I don’t want to be there, but you gotta. But doing something like drawing or something to keep your mind a little distracted, it’s almost like living the book again.

Sketch

One of Chris’s original sketches with his robot guy in the catsuit (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: So in a way you are going to that other place right now.
Chris: Yeah exactly I got out of work today do I could really visit my imagination.

RWK

RWK (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What do you think when you realize that your work here could actually spark the imagination of someone walking by?
Chris: That’s amazing. I think that is one of the best things about art – is inspiring somebody to think something, to do something, just kick-start something. That’s one of the reasons we started the website, so people could see art from people all over the world and be inspired to create their own. It’s simple. We just want to inspire somebody to use their imagination.

Are we ready yet?

Are we ready yet? (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: There are going to be a lot of kids walking by this too:
Chris: Yeah, that is definitely going to be cool. And just hearing kids recognize this when they walk by, our interpretation of the story, is cool.

Veng and Chris happy after a day of excellent work

Veng and Chris after a happy day at work. (photo Jaime Rojo)

RWK Veng and Chris Beautiful work

“Where the Wild Robots Are” by Veng and Chris from Robots Will Kill (photo Jaime Rojo)

Robots Will Kill Website

See Robots Will Kill do their thing at the MBP Urban Arts Festival in Bushwick Brooklyn October 3rd! Brooklyn Street Art is the official blog for this event so come out and see live painting, BMX Skateboard tricks, and live music all day. Support the artists you love.

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