Archive for October, 2009
Q) Who are you, introduce yourself?
A) Vomit AQ, ZEE
Q) Where is AQK from? How did it all get started?
A) AQ originated in Las Vegas. Heroz started it in 1995, I got in in
1996 and we crushed vegas bein only a few deep. Task force raided
houses and heroz and i got hit with 1.3 million in damage. We slowly
started movin away from L.V. after this.
Q) Vegas? I heard Vegas is a crazy town. You got any crazy stories?
A) Shit. My whole life growin up. From robbin banks and drivin sickass
lowriders to paintin 24hr traffic streets and hangin over 14 story
casino rooftops paintin fillins. All vegas girls are sluts and fake I.D.s are hella easy to get.
Q) What cities can AQK be seen?
A) Mainly the SF bay area now, but warrants and police keep most of us
nomadic. Oregon, Nevada, California, New Mexico, and a couple other
random safehouses in some other states.
Q) What is the main crew focus or common goal?
A) To paint, party, hustle, live life bein a tight family.
Q) A couple of years ago I took a trip to the SF, and I saw you guys up
everywhere.
A) SF is fuckin fun to paint. Tho its not like it used to be. theyre
really crackin down on graff there. FREE KEEP
Q) What are crew members currently working on? Any projects in the works?
A) We just take things as they come.
and to crush the alcatraz tower hahaha.
Q) What direction are you guys headed?
A) Up Never Down
Q) What do you think about Nevada? Why?
A) Nevada Sucks. From the laws to the snitches. Lots of good spots and
an all night scene, but cops love to kick in doors.
Q) Lets hear about Propain Tattoos whats that about?
A) Propain Tattoos is our underground tattoo company we’ve been slowly
workin on the past 5 or 6 years.
Q) Being a resident of the Bay do you ever find yourself ghost riding the whip?
A) If its fun and crazy ive been known for doin it.
Q) Last words?
A) shout out to all the homies in the crew and everybody thats helped
us out by housing, feeding, giving us drugs and alcohol, throwin down
bail.
Our friend Sheena She from www.chainsawsandjelly.com blog popped in on the big foot opening last week she’s got some great pics on her flickr. Big Foot x North Face from Chainsaws and Jelly
Those kings of kollabos at krink unveil a new line with LEVI’s for Fall/Winter 2009.
We’ve got a crazy week coming up at Day in the Lyfe. Orders are being filed in preparation for the November 24th release date for the movie! Rick Ross might stop by for an interview and this weekend we are throwing down with a special surprise at our Halloween party. Are you ready?
Photo from Visualize This
Steve Rotman and Mark Batty Publishers present this truly spectacular collection of photos from the Bay Area between 2004 and 2008. This book is a must have and is end to end filled with of high quality photos of artists like Chubs, Apex, BNE, Ashes and many, many more. From tags to burners, this book is a complete record of this important period of recent history. Many of the photos offer a look inside the secret places that your average urban explorer would miss. Its hard to put this one down.
We here at Day in the Lyfe had a chance to ask the author Steve Rotman a few questions about this project. Enjoy.
1. What was it that first drew you to photograph graffiti? Were you previously a writer?
Steve: I was never a writer. I got into graffiti as a total outsider. Things got rolling in early 2004. I was wandering around San Francisco looking for murals to photograph and I came across some amazing graffiti productions in the Mission and Soma districts. They blew me away and got me curious. I started to read about graffiti’s history and culture and aesthetics. I fell in love with the art and the mystery of it. By the end of 2004, I was obsessed and searching for graffiti to photograph almost every day.
2. Did you use flickr to make a lot of contacts? Did it serve you well as you were developing this obsession?
Steve: Definitely. It’s the most consistent way I’m in touch with the graff community. It’s a great vehicle to share my passion for this subject and to connect with writers, photographers and graffiti fans. There’s a very active and enthusiastic graffiti crowd on Flickr. It’s fun to be a part of it.
3. At what point during this obsession did you realize you had to make a book?
Steve: After I’d posted graffiti photos online for a couple years, a lot of people started to suggest that I make a book. By then, I’d already collected thousands of photos and had become friends with people in the community, so it seemed feasible. Nobody had ever put out a book devoted to the graff scene in the Bay Area, so it seemed like a good opportunity to finally make it happen. At some point, I just decided to go for it. It took a couple more years to get a publisher and put it all together. With my outstanding collaborator, Chris Brennan, and a lot of work, we got it done. For as long as I’ve been shooting graffiti in the Bay Area, I’ve felt that this is a special and exciting scene with remarkably talented writers. It’s gratifying to have been to able to preserve and celebrate that in a nice big book.
JOIN DAY IN THE LYFE, MARK BATTY PUBLISHERS, ABLETON and POWER STRIP CIRCUS THIS HALLOWEEN!
Come to the official Day in the Lyfe Halloween party at Coco 66 in BROOKLYN, NY!
New York artist NohJColey has created a fitting tribute to 3 graffiti legends who are no longer with us. His wheatpastes of artists Tie, Sace, and Iz have been turning up on the city streets. It is rare that one artist takes the time to acknowledge the contributions of other artists. Day in the Lyfe asked him a few questions regarding his new work.
DITL – What was it that drew you to these artists, Tie, Sace and Iz, and why did you want to create these tributes?
NohJColey – I felt like Sace, Tie and IZ each shaped the graff moment in their own individual way. Whether it be hangover pieces, humongous paint rollers or back to back fill in’s they brought something to the graff world that separated them from other artist at the time. I created the tributes because I felt like when a person passes away people mourn but its not continuous. I wanted to remind people that these individuals need to be remembered for eternity.
DITL - What kind of response have you got from friends of the writers and the public in general?
NohJColey – I have gotten some remarks like “why is a street artist doing portraits of graff artists.” Overall I think everyone likes them and the graff writers that I respect seem to love them.
DITL – We mentioned other artists that tragically passed like Nace, and Heist, any plans to make more tributes?
NohJColey – Yeah, I’m definitely going to continue this series. The continuation of the Sprayed N Stone series will be called Buff Resistant. I’m not sure when I will begin to work on it but I’m pretty sure it will be mid 2010 sometime. I really want to dig threw pictures the next time around.
DITL – I was talking with Specter today, and coming from a solid graff background, he didn’t feel that there was a difference between the graff lettering and the street art that he produces. Because you share a similair graff background do you share his opinion on the artforms?
NohJColey – I think it’s all based on aesthetics. Some people fell that quantity is better than quality. If you look at Specter’s work in general it’s more about quality versus quantity.
DITL – In an average day in your lyfe, how much time do you spend focused and creating your art?
NohJColey – Honestly, twenty-four hours a day. I woke this morning and finally had an answer to a design question I had for weeks.
Check out more of NohJColey’s artwork on his Flickr.
Mint and Serf have taken advantage of an amazing opportunity to curate the interiors of the Ace Hotel. The hotel located on 29th and Broadway is part of a national chain, and opened its doors this past February. The rooms which range in price from 179 for bunk beds to 1499 for a loft were given a make-over by high profile new york artists including Jordan Seiler, Tristan Eaton, Pork, Faust, Pegleg, Mint, and Serf. The guys have been killing it recently on the professional level and were recently spotted on the windows of Marc Jacobs downtown shop.
Here’s a look at some of those great rooms, sometimes I wish I was just visiting New York so I could chill in the sweet hotels. Most of these photos were taken by Jordan Seiler and were all pulled off MINT and SERF’s FLICKR.
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