MODE 2 - interview
©namesfest.net1. Everybody knows the name Mode 2. What does this name mean? Why did you choose it?Mode was just a word in mathematics that I used to mix up with "median" and "mean". I *also* liked the letters in the "CODE" silver top to bottom in Subway Art, as well as the word "mode" used on electrical or computer equipment. The "2" came from the first meeting Scribla and I had with Bando, in Covent Garden, Spring '85. he had his black book, and I saw a "Mode NYC" tag in the back, so I simply put the "2" at the end of my name; that simple.
2. Your style of painting characters, which influenced many other writers is about figures and perfect anatomy. I find that the theme mostly revolves around women or the relationship between women and men. Could you tell us something about the inspiration that you get out of women?I'm much more into drawing women than men, *that's* for sure, finding the woman's body an *irresistible* attraction; looking for its beauty in all its shapes, sizes and colours. Obviously you won't see *all* of them in my work, but what I *wanted* to do was to make images of women that women *themselves* would find attractive and empowering; body shapes away from these “artificial" super models and Barbie dolls... I'm inspired by the girls and the women that I see on the street, on the train, in a café or restaurant; *anywhere* really... In the clubs or on parties are a different thing, because people go out to *be* different from how they usually are, and their style and attitude is sometimes a little more *artificial* than how they look everyday, which is what *I* like more. The more a woman is in *harmony* with herself, the *better* she looks; not trying to *squeeze* into a format that society or fashion media have ready-made for her. By looking at her body, understanding what her plus and minus sides are, she can then find what suits *her* best, *not* what happens to be in the shops for that season. And yet beauty is not *just* a cosmetic visual superficial thing. You can have the prettiest girl sitting at your table, but what she talks about, and how, can also take *all* her beauty away. In the same way, you have girls that guys see as rather plain, *especially* the guys who're only attracted by the more bimbo types; but when somebody's *mind* and *character* is beautiful, when *what* they choose to speak about, and the point of view that they hold, is *also* beautiful, her whole character then becomes beautiful *too*...
3. You belong to the first golden generation of writers in Europe. Do you see any changes of what graff was back than and what it represents today? Do you still keep up to date with what is going on?I don't keep up to date with what's going on at all. The *only* thing I rely on is whose names I see up in the street, on the train tracks, or on the trains themselves. I still hang with friends who're still active, but I rarely go out myself. We *didn't* start out with graffiti fanzines or websites or whatever. If you wanted to *see* a piece, you had to go and *look for it*; the photo was not enough. Today, you have *so* many photos next to each other, but there is no *real* idea of how big *any* of these pieces are, *where* they were done, and how risky or *hot* the spot was. There are a couple of magazines that tried to be a bit more forward looking back then, Bomber, Underground Productions, Fat Cap; but the majority was very much stealing from the past, showing what happens today, but *not* thinking about tomorrow at all... about how the scene will be *ten* or *fifteen* years down the line, and what *effect* the publication would have had on the evolution. We didn't *have* spray paint brands especially made for "graffiti", we had to go and look for fat caps and skinny caps *ourselves*, we had to find out if acetone, trichloethylene, or lighter fluid works better for *cleaning* these caps. It took you a *lot* longer to actually get good, it was *not* a good thing to bite somebody else's style, and nearly every city had its *own* style anyway; with less of the uniformity that we see *today* across the scene. Spray paint brands didn't pay *any* attention to us then, because a lot of the paint was getting *stolen* from the stores anyway. These days, you have some unwary writers that give their names to colours of paint that have been slowly *poisoning* us for the last twenty five years, while the brands themselves only make *more* money off of our health. *They*'re real happy *too*, when we're on these jams using *their* paint, doing them free promotion, and getting younger children to go and poison *themselves* too. That's *another* reason why I backed away from the jams, and don't really like to be painting with lots of people around any more... We were amongst the first to start painting in London, so we were *instantly* famous; which meant that we didn't have this "fame" thing to *battle* for anyway. As a crew, The Chrome Angelz was basically about friends who really enjoyed drawing and painting, who had skills, and who could influence and inspire each other to evolve much quicker. We *didn't* have so many jams, and at the jams, only a very *few* of the *best* people would be allowed to paint. This set a certain kind of hierarchy of *what* the beginner should be aiming for, and how *hard* and *long* the road would be to get to that point. The big jams of the mid-90s, where fifty people from kings to toys would be painting, are something that *destroyed* this value system, so did some guys who were just doing little pieces in a lost safe place somewhere, taking a photo of them, and sending those to the fanzines. The road to fame had become *totally* different than the "From Here To Fame" that we read on that train in Style Wars... The jams got to a point where you had this whole public that was coming to take photos of "famous" writers, and collect tags in their black books; so they could go back to where they came from, and tell their friends that they saw or met so and so. If you *asked* them what they *talked* about though, they had *nothing* to say; because they were *not interested* in conversation, exchanging of *knowledge* and *ideas*. They were *only* collecting trophies from their Hip Hop safari-jam, like collecting stamps or whatever; *totally superficial*. When you meet somebody who's been around longer than you, there's *always* something to learn from them; but this has not been the case any more, for quite some time... I don't feel that I *fit* into the scene any more, so I just do my *own* thing, and paint every once in a rare moon with good friends, even if there's some younger guy along with us.
4. Could you please mention 5 artists of any era, that inspired you, or that you just simply like?Graffiti; Phase 2, Kase 2, Dondi, Futura, Reas (and many more!)
Art; Egon Schiele, Alphonse Mucha, Velazquez, Hieronymus Bosch, Raphael (more here too);
Comics; Mike McMahon, Jamie Hewlett, Simon Bisley, Tanino Liberatore, Art Suydam (and lots more here as well!)
5. Have you ever been to Praha? What do you know about our city and what do you want to see here?I've never been to Praha, only know a bit about the uprising in 68, and that there must be some nice old Europe architecture there, as it did not get heavily bombed during World War 2. I don't know what I'll get a chance to see, but I like good food, so if there are nice places to eat in the evenings, in a mixed crowd in a cultural quarter, that *would* be nice. I always used to get *away* from the people at the jams, because they'd only go for fast food, or whatever's sold at the party itself. Food and drink are an integral part of every culture, and a way by which you can get to learn more about people; good *or* bad ;-)
Links:http://www.mode2.org
