BRAD DOWNEY - interview
©namesfest.net

1. Please, introduce yourself. Have you studied at any art school, how long do you do Streetart, do you have any experience with graffiti?

I would consider my first "street art" skateboarding. A bench is no longer a bench it becomes an obstacle for self-_expression. My skateboard taught me how to be creative with my surroundings and question the fundamental function of things, I remember seeing Ricky Oyola roll up a hill, jump and grind vertically up one of the bars that held together a chain link fence. It is like ballet attacking architecture. These sorts of images paved the way. I started installing art outside in 1998 with a graffiti writer named WERBS who eventually started working under the pen name Darius Jones. He had been using the construction vest to put his letter variations on signs and install them. He brought me into the world of illegal art. We started working together installing signs on the premise of what we called the "switcharoo." Which basically meant putting a painting where it would not normally be. So instead of a no-parking-sign you get a colorful drawing. But the real work started when we bought a cordless hammer drill. This opened a door to a whole new world. Suddenly we could drill anything anywhere. So, I guess I have been involved in graffiti street art worlds since 1999.

2. You are known for satirical changing the objects of public itinerary?

Originally it was an easiest way to obtain raw materials. I never have much money and these objects were just lying all around New York. They are easy to grab-up and take home, and much cheaper than canvas. But later I started to really love these objects. These elements have a strange way of absorbing the city's character. They start to take a kind of social status. I guess I want to make work that lives and works in the city, just like everyone else. The urban space is a completely human world that desperately tries to shut out all other forms of life. Everything is designed. Even nature gets designed into the fabric of the city layout. And all this structure starts to become a kind of sick chaos devoid of anything natural. It’s the place humans dump all there virtues and vices. I think making work that reacts to this pure human world is the most affective. You can really crawl under the skin of the city. Everyone works harder in the city even the trees.

3. Do you install your sculptures at daytime? Did you ever have any problem with police?

Yes I do everything in the day usually Sunday morning. There is a kind of magic moment on a Sunday morning when no one is awake this seems to be the best time to do illegal stuff. I used to install everything disguised as a construction worker. But now I feel I should be more honest with the people. I don't want to hide the illegal aspect anymore. I don't feel that what I am doing is wrong. Hiding behind the construction costume started to feel like an admittance of guilt. But yes I do get arrested here and there. But that's just part of the game.

4. How do you work?

It usually requires "spot hunting." Going around and finding the perfect spot or just searching for something that grabs my interest. Then I make something that I think is missing or could add to that or emphasize a particular existing moment.

5. Why do you think that streetart is so popular, now? How the people look at it in U.S.?

I think people love street art because it's free for everyone to discover. Street art bridges the gap between elitist intellectual art and reactionary mass entertainment. This is something that everyone wants in the commercial world. But "street art" seems to capture this naturally. This aspect allows everyone to engage with it, and be stimulated by it on many different levels. And it is free, I think people are always in the position of being consumers but when you look at a piece of street art you can just be stimulated by it. It’s not trying to sell you anything.

6. As | know, you are currently living and working in Berlin. Why did you moved away from N.Y.? What are the biggest differences between U.S. and Europe scene?

I moved to London from New York in 2003 to attend Slade School of Art in London. Moving to London was so important to me because I had never been to Europe. People from the United States don't travel abroad so much, because the cost to travel is really expensive. In Europe, the airline companies make traveling so affordable. This is one of the biggest differences. I moved to Berlin last summer from England. Everything in Berlin is under construction, so I can find much inspiration exploring construction sites and so on.

7. Have you ever been in Praha? What do you know about our city? What would you like to see and do here?

I have never been to Prague. I am not sure what I would like to do. But I will start by taking a big walk to see what I can discover.

Video:

Links:
http://www.braddowney.com
http://www.reinkingprojekte.com/brad- downey-arbeiten
http://www.woostercollective.com/ brad_downeys_best_of_2005
http://weburbanist.com/7-surreal-urban- street-art-installation-projects-brad- downey-brings-wonderland-to-life