The Big Issue - UK (2020-03-09)

peoplePEOPLE

TheBigIssue:Whatis1UPCrew?

1UPCrew:1UPCrewisa groupoffriendsthat

doesinterventionsinpublicspaces,alsocalled

graffiti.Ourgraffitioftencomesinto beingin

an intervention.Morethan thefinishedpiece

theprocessof doingitisimportantforus. We

usually try to filmtheseinterventionssothat

theactioncanbeshownontheinternetorin

exhibitions.In thelastyear or two we started

to venture alsointhefieldof museumshows

and graffitifestivalsbutwhatbringsthecrew

togetherisan adrenaline-fuelledmission.

Whatarethebestplacesyou'vepainted?

Oneimportantpart of ourgroupculture is

thatwe travelalot. In fact we’vepaintedall

aroundtheworldonallcontinentsexcept

theArctic.In ourtravelswe try to meetlocals

and getaglimpse–asfar asitispossiblein

ashort time–of thelocal culture. It isoften

thecasethattheexperienceswehaveare

very contradictory.Whilewe are incountries

like Indonesia,Russiaor Chinawe meet

peoplewhoaresuper-helpful,friendlyand

welcomingand ourworksare perceivedquite

positively,butatthesametimewe witness

authoritarianand discriminatorypractices,

whichwe condemn.And inaway most

placeshave somanyexperiencesto offer

thatitdoesn’tmatter where we are but that

we are there!

InterviewbyHelenSmithson

Image by 1UP Crew

Whatareyoumostproudof?

We’reproud that our group of

friendshave roamedthe streetsof

Berlinandtherestoftheworldfor

over 15 yearsandthatwehave

managedto stay friendsfor all that

time – with all theups and downsand

conflictsyouhave in groups. We are

awarethat we individually comefrom

very privilegedpositionsas mostlywhite

middle-classmen and womenfrom

Germany.And that also we as a group

from KreuzbergBerlinare comingfrom

one of the worldcentresof graffiti.

Whilewe are happyabout the

actionswedotogetherandthe

thingswe achievedin the [graffiti]

world,we try to keep that in mind

and stay humble.

Is1UPforthepeople?

It surely is. On the one handwe mostly

paintin public spaceand we try to make

our piecesvisibleand lasting.Even

thoughwealsopainttrainsthatwill

get cleanedquickly our focus is to leave

a markin a public space.On the other

hand1UP as a tag gets pickedup from

lots of peoplewho don’thave anything

todowithusandisthusina way

appropriated by the people.

Youpaintduringthedayinplainsight,as

opposedtomanygraffitiwriterswhohide

inthenight.Haveyouhadtoadaptyour

styletosuitthisextra-fastwriting?How

fastcanyourun?

This ispart of theperformativemomentof our

actions.Justtakingthelibertyto painttrains,

walls or roofs rightinfront of everybody.In

contradictionto whatpeoplemightexpect,it

isnotsoimportantto runfast butto plan the

actionwell. We choosethetimeand the place

and have surpriseon ourside.

TellusaboutthegraffitiOlympics

GraffitiOlympicswas aSchnapsidee[‘crazy

idea’ –in2018thecrew filmedthemselves

inAthens,scalinghugewallsacrossthecity

and creatingastunningdronefilmof it]as

youwouldsay inGerman,thatturnedout

to bean accomplishablechallenge.In the

beginningof ourNew Year’stripto Athens

weweresittingina restaurantdiscussing

theplanswhenoneofuswaspushing

theone-shotdronevideoasagoal.The

followingdayswewereconstantlychecking

spotsand makingplans.We wantedto

have adroneflyingthroughthestreetsof

Athensthatfilmsvariousconsecutive graffiti

actions.Alsowe wantedto have asmanyof

ourfavourite graffitidisciplines in the drone

video as possible.

p 34 | BIGISSUE.COM 09-15 MARCH 2020