if youaddthatwitha mentalhealthproblemoran
addictionproblem...
Thisweektherearethreecovers:RiseUp,Stand
Up,SpeakUp– what’sbehindthat?
TheolderI get,themoreawareI becomeof
theproblemsthatpeopleface,andI’mina
positionwhereI candosomething.People
listentome.I haveanaudienceI canspeakto
andI feelthatthereisa responsibilityasanartist
touseyourartandtheplatformthatyouhave
tospeaktopeopleandmakethemaware,and
hopefullyinspireotherpeopletodostu�f.Youcan’t
changemuchonyourown,butif there’sa bunch
ofpeopledoingsomethingthensomeonemight
starttolisten.
Let’sgobacktothebeginning.Howdidyouget
towhatyoucall“thisprivilegedplace”?
Itstartedwitha bookcalledSubwayArt, bytwo
photographersfromNewYorkcalledMartha
CooperandHenryChalfant.I discoveredthisbook
inmymid-teens,itwasfilledwithphotos
ofgra�fitifromNewYorksubwaysandI’dnever
seenanythinglikeit.Itbecamemybible.I was
lookingatthesephotographsandit waslike,
“ThisiswhatI wanttodo,I wanttopainttrains
thatlooklikethephotographsinthisbook”.
Ittookquitea fewyears,learningaboutspray
paint,learningaboutnozzles,discovering
wheretrainsgotosleepatnight,howtoget
intothetrainyards.EventuallyI didit.I was
quitea ferociousvandalandgotarrestedquite
a fewtimes.
ThelasttimeIgotarrestedforgra�fiti,Igota
£7,000fineandaround 180 hoursofcommunity
service.I knewthenexttimeI gotcaughtdoing
gra�fiti,taggingorpaintingtrains,Iwasgoingto
getsentencedtoprisonandI reallydidn’twant
togotoprison.I wasalsogettinga littleboredof
gra�fiti,I’ddonewhatIsetouttodo.
I’dbeendoingit forquitesometimeandit
wasn’tasexcitingasitwaswhenIfirstdiscovered
it.Itwasaroundthistimethatstreetartwasbeginningtohappen.Banksyhadbeenupin
Londonafewtimes,therewastheMonaLisa
withrocketlauncher,andI waslookingatthis
stu�f,itjustseemedmoreinterestingthangra�fiti.Howwouldyoudefinethedi�ferencebetween
gra�fitiandstreetart?
Gra�fitiisdestructiveanddoneforothergra�fiti
writersorforthepersondoingthetags,andstreet
artisn’tdestructive,streetartaddssomething.A
lotofthoughtgoesintostreetartanditslocation
andthemessage.Thiswasalsothetimeofthe
internet,whichmadeahugedi�ferencebecause
if theinternetdidn’texist,I wouldn’tbeawareof
thesethingsgoingoninBrazilorParis.
Andif theinternetdidn’texist,everyfan
couldn’thaveturnedintoa collectorordealer.
Everythingjusthappenedattherightmoment.It
wasaroundthetimethatmeandanex-girlfriend
hada partyatTheDragonBar,whichisthisbar
thata friendofmineopeneduparoundtheback
ofOldStreetroundabout.Giant canvas
Eine's Create mural spans
four acres of industrial
ground in East LondonZippo – Create © ourtypes.com
09-15 MARCH 2020 BIGISSUE.COM | p 17