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CONTENT:
No. 013 October - March 2013 / 2014
Cover by NYCHOS
HELL YEAH, IT'S SWISS DESIGNED.
ISSUE 013. NO PAINT, NO GAIN. SINCE 2008.
INSTAMATEUR
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THE WEIRD CHALET
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READERS DIG IT
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KINSEY
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AMADEUS WALTENSPÜHL
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ABOVE
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FOCUS ON VIENNA
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VIENNA MAP
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VIENNA SMALL TALK
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ILLU BATTLE
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NYCHOS
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SOBEKCIS
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PERFEKT WORLD
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SHUE - NUMBER ONE
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INSIDE OUT IN KABUL
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THE JAUNT
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HYURO - CARTE BLANCHE
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IAN COX - CARTE BLANCHE
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RED BULL CURATES ZURICH
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WELL DONE
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EYES ON TOYS
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SHIRTY
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C.R.E.A.M.
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SCREAM
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2013 © Amateur Magazine. SWITZERLAND. All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission is strictly prohibited. Any views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. No guarantee for accuracy of statement.
www.amateur-magazine.com www.facebook.com/amateurmag www.flickr.com/groups/amateurmag/pool/ www.issuu.com/amateur www.twitter.com/amateurmag www.vimeo.com/amateurmag www.instagram.com/amateurmag
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The title ‘Amateur’ is a reflection of our voluntary passion and motivation that derives from sincere pleasure rather than from mere financial benefit or professional reasons.
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www.amateur-magazine.com
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#amateurmag
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Sainer and Betz aka Etam Cru from Poland at the Richmond Mural Project, USA. @rvamag, @artwhino
Florida based artist Evoca1 for Festival Equilibrio in at Tarapoto, Peru. @evoca1
Alexis Diaz in London, UK 2013 @alexis_diaz, picture by @ugz
Aryz at the Urban Samtiskunst Festival in Oslo, Norway 2013. @mr_aryz, picture by @birkosaurus
French artist C215 aka Christian Guemy from Paris at Upfest Bristol, UK 2013. @christianguemy, @upfest
Phlegm from Sheffield, UK at the Streetart Doping festival in Warsaw, Poland 2013.
Onur, Wes21, KKade & Semor at 5Pointz, New York 2013. @semor_dhs, @onurpainting, @kkade_schwarzmaler, picture by @lumn8tion
Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. @ernestzach
ROA quickie in an abandoned factory in Ghent, Belgium
Alexander Grebenyuk in Kiev, Ukraine at GogolFest 2012.
Lonac from Zagreb, Croatia.
www.instagram.com/amateurmag
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#amateurmag
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Axel Void at the Living Walls festival in Atlanta, USA. @livingwallsatl picture by @mammood
Fintan Magee from Australia in Vienna, Austria 2013. @fintan_magee
Conor Harrington in Palma de Mallorca, Spain 2013. @conorsaysboom
ZED1 from Italy in Amsterdam 2013.
El Mac and Retna from Los Angeles for ArtBasel Miami 2008. @mac_arte, @ironeyeretna
Moscow based artist collective Zukclub at the festival ArtOvrag, Vyksa, Russia 2013. @zukclub
Faith47 and Obey at Hilger BrotKunsthalle in Vienna, Austria for the Cash Cans Candy Festival. @obeygiant, @faithfortyseven
HRVB The Weird in Berlin, Germany 2013. @hrvbtheweird
Damon Ginandes in New York City. picture by @checkback
Typical Miss Van character by French artist Tilt. @vanessa_alice
INTI from Valparaiso, Chile at Urban Forms in Lodz, Poland 2012.
www.instagram.com/amateurmag
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Watch our video online on Vimeo (vimeo.com/75916730) or simply scan the QR code:
Photos by Markus "Meq" Fischer
The Weird Chalet, Klinik Littenheid, Switzerland. August 2013.
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the-weird-crew.tumblr.com
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Rugabu
by Reto Ehrbar
Into the great white by Yves Suter
ISBN: 978-3-9524139-9-9 222 pages, Linen hardcover Price: 99 CHF / €79 Limited Edition of 300 Hakuin Verlag, Zurich
"20 years ago my mother won a snowboard in a supermarket competition. Eventually I began snowboarding. 10 years later I started to bring my camera with me to document the lifestyle and the people." says Yves Suter. 'Into the great white' is his photographic documentation about snowboarding. Focussing not on the action side of snowboarding, but instead on the distinctive moments and the environment of snowboarding, especially the nature and people, as well as exploring and traveling the mountains of the world.
ISBN: 978-3-03762-032-8 96 pages, Japanese binding Price: 39.90 CHF Limited to 2000 copies Bilger Verlag
RUGABU tells the tale of the Tiru people, who live in harmony with nature, until one day one Tiru sets himself above another and cuts down a tree. As in other stories by Reto Ehrbar, partner and co-founder of the Raffinerie, RUGABU takes place in the world of AGABU (the acronym stands for "Alles Ganz Anders Bei Uns" or "Everything Ticks Different With Us"), with thought provoking intent. The story consists of one continuous picture in Japanese binding, which if fully extended, would reach a length of more than 10 meters. The first edition is published as 2000 numbered copies. www.bilgerverlag.ch
www.hakuin-verlag.com
Vandals
by Nils Müller ISBN: 978-3-939566-38-0 192 pages Price: 29,90 EUR Publikat Verlag
German photographer Nils Müller focuses on the very act of graffiti as it takes place, specifically, graffiti on trains – trainwriting. Müller gave us his first insight into the scene with his 2008 book Blütezeit. His latest publication, Vandals, takes the illegal and dangerous activity on 192 pages to a more personal level, one that is more detailed and yet, more abstract, too. The photographs in Vandals were captured over the last seven years around the world and introduce us to the main players of global trainwriting, including Same, Pilchi, Atom, Motiv, Creme, MOSES & TAPS™, Luce, F-ups, and All and Moa. www.publikat.de, www.stylefile.de www.nilsmuellerphotography.com
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KINSEY
Dave Kinsey at The Trace gallery, Zurich, 2013. Photo by Ian Cox
What would you say is the common thread of your work?
ÂŤThe struggles and joys of the human condition.Âť
Dave Kinsey (42) | Artist & designer | Los Angeles & Three Rivers, California
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www.kinseyvisual.com
Casa Grande, 2012 mixed media on canvas 101 x 81 cm
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Hi Kinsey. Please introduce yourself. I’m a California-based artist and designer compelled to create due to my passion for expressing thoughts and ideas visually. In addition to finding the process itself engaging, the ability to utilize this dialogue has been an important tool in my attempt to decipher the complex world we live in by exploring social, political and even environmental issues. You have exhibited an impressive range of solo shows worldwide as an artist, run a design studio and gallery with your partner Jana DesForges and you are a producer of fine art prints for BLK/MRKT Editions. You also run a lifestyle brand BLK/MRKT Original. Did I forget something? Besides working, I spend a lot of time outdoors in the Sequoia National Park, which is near my current home. When I need to escape, I normally just drop everything for the day and hit the park to help reinvigorate my creative energy. What does a typical Kinsey day look like? I don’t have a set schedule, but I usually begin the day being licked to death by my two dogs as if I’m a piece of salt! After that, it’s coffee, watching the sunrise, hitting the studio, then some days I’ll go down to the river for a swim with my dogs. Then back for some studio time, chop some wood, photograph rock formations, go for a walk, relocate rattlesnakes, watch the sunset, drink a nice cold beer, and then hit the studio again in the evening before I end the day eating dinner and watching a movie if I’m still awake. It's important for me to have the right balance in life so I'm not always scrambling to enjoy it while working to get things done for shows and everything else I have going on at any given moment. You work with a precise range of colors. Recently I read about your dad's factory and how it influenced your colors. Could you please tell our readers about it. You mean Cadmium Red Light. When I was younger, my dad had a factory that rebuilt electric motors. The place was truly dull, and the only thing that brought life to this dingy chemical-infested hell was the bright red-orange primer they used on the new motors. It stood out like a shining beacon and I couldn't help but be drawn to it. So, as a result, I’ve always had an affinity to that color and use it a lot in my work. It acts as a kind of warning symbol and helps bring attention to each piece, kind-of like a news headline. Art historians always like to compare contemporary artists with past artists. How would you categorize your work? That’s a tough one since I dislike being categorized, but I do like the works of Franz Kline, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Keith Haring, and Caravaggio if that adds any relevance to the past. What would you say is the common thread of your work? The struggles and joys of the human condition. Let's talk about your show at The Trace gallery in Zurich (September 2013). The exhibition was entitled "Casa Grande". What is the concept of "home" for you? Casa Grande refers to the collective human family and the spaces we occupy physically and psychologically; separate but together. We gather in rooms bound by certain restraints, be it cultural, racial, ideological or demographic. Walls separate us, but there are always doors we can choose to open or close. Please tell us about BLK/MRKT. Past, present, future? BLK/MRKT originally started off as a design studio in 1997 with my partners at the time, Shepard Fairey and Philip DeWolf. We were doing a lot of design and customized “guerilla marketing” campaigns working with boutique brands as well as major corporations and brands like Universal Pictures, Pepsi and Nissan. Back then our whole mantra was to try and bring art back into advertising. The 80s and 90s sucked for that when we were growing up so we decide to help bridge the gap between corporations and the consumers by speaking to them in their own language. It worked and set us in motion. In 2003, Shepard left the company, and my wife Jana, also a designer and creative director, joined me as partner. We relocated the gallery to Culver City, which ending up turning into an internationally known hotspot for contemporary art in LA, and BLK/MRKT (later Kinsey/DesForges) became a successful showcase for up and coming domestic and international “new contemporary” artists, including many that had invested time in street art
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Deux, 2012 mixed media on canvas 30 x 25 cm
and other cutting-edge work. Meanwhile, the design studio began to land huge projects with brands like Apple, Nike and Absolut Vodka, to name a few. In 2009 we closed the gallery space which ended up changing my life for the better, giving me more time to concentrate on my fine art in a brand new studio. We still run BLK/MRKT Editions online, producing and selling limited edition prints. We do design work as well, mainly for brands and companies we believe in. Regarding the future, I’m optimistic to say the least. I feel good about what BLK/MRKT Original will bring to the table in terms of a clothing and lifestyle brand incorporating our vision of art and design into peoples’ lives. During the BLK/MRKT time you made some very famous logos for youth culture brands, such as the DC or the Epitaph records logo. Which ones are you the most proud of? Why? I like both those logos and many others I’ve done, but I don’t really have a favorite. It’s definitely a kick seeing some of those logos, like DC, showing up everywhere around the world.
«... I had no money, no car and needed to get out on my own. The moment I left, my journey began.»
Sacrifice, Acrylic and ink on Arches paper, 60 x 30 cm
www.blkmrkt.com
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Tequila Carousel, 2013 mixed media on canvas 101 x 81 cm
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www.kinseyvisual.com
The last thing you had to fight for? As you get older you learn to go more with the flow unless there are things that deprive you of your convictions. What do you like most about California? Of course I love the weather and wide open spaces, and California’s diverse geography and cultural melting pot. If not California, where would you like to live? Maybe Bordeaux, or the south of France, and I’ve been tempted by Kauai. I’d also like to give New York a try for about a year, but not for much longer than that. If you could be a thing, what would you like to be? Why? Probably a tree: unique, strong, life-giving. What is the biggest risk you've ever taken and was it worth it? Moving to Atlanta to go to art school. I had no money, no car and needed to get out on my own. The moment I left, my journey began. Anything else you want to let people know? Any shout-outs? Huge shout-outs to Regina & Donovan at Trace gallery for supporting my work and bringing me to Zurich. Also, much love always to my beautiful wife Jana who keeps all the chaos in order. Always be willing to learn and never afraid to unlearn. Thank you! ._. Interview: Lain Photos: Ian Cox & Dave Kinsey
Seventh Sin, 2013 mixed media on canvas 61 x 56 cm
www.obeygiant.com
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AMADEUS WALTENSPÜHL Would you like to draw me a tattoo?
«Nope.»
Amadeus Waltenspühl aka amadey aka suffix (28) | Illustrator, graphic designer, animator, VJ | Lucerne, Switzerland
www.suffix.tv
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Please introduce yourself. I would describe myself as a person with many interests. My primary focus as a freelancer lies in illustration, animation and graphic design. At an early age I was introduced to the world of creativity through my parents who run an agency specializing in graphic design and architecture. In my youth I also spent a lot of time with music, and was a “human beatbox” and drummer in various bands. But in the end I decided to have a go at design-related art – I studied graphic design and later completed my Master’s degree in illustration and animation. After co-founding the society “korsett kollektiv”, the visual and motion crew “suffix” and the Swiss VJ network “videokultur” my musical interests were again reconciled with my design work and are now providing me with a constant, audiovisual exchange. My focus is on designing and illustrating gig posters and doing live visuals at concerts and festivals. For two years I have also been teaching the “Fachklasse Grafik” at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Inspired by comics and cartoons, vintage design, calligraphy and classical graphic design I am constantly striving to create appropriate styles, redefine my work and further develop my skills.
What question would you like to be asked in an interview? What would be your answer? Would you like to draw me my tattoo? And my answer would be “Nope”. What’s been playing on your mind recently? Deadlines. How many sketches do you do until you have the final scene? I usually sketch for as long as it takes until I can clearly imagine the outcome. “Sketch” is actually an exaggerated word. I mostly do scribbles that take me 3-4 seconds to get a rough impression of the final scene. These scribbles are only ever understood by me and just help me visualize the final picture. When I am clear on what I want to do, I get on with the final sketch right away. Please explain your work process to our readers. When do you switch from hand drawing to the computer? I often start with quick scribbles to visualize my ideas and then I go directly to my computer for the rest of the creative process. This includes doing picture research, sketching the basic composition, adding inks, color and typo and finally finishing off the details. Actually my workflow is quite digital although I do try to apply an analog feel to my work if the concept allows it. Many of my elements that I arrange digitally are created with analog techniques, such as brushstrokes, textures,
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ornaments etc. I always make use of the media that allows me to best express my imagination. An illustration can be done completely digitally, but some details are not. For example a cloud of smoke in the background is done with a rough brush on paper, the typography consists of 40-year-old letraset and the paper structure which shines through, originates from an old bible etc. How important is it to work on personal projects in addition to your client work? To me, the importance lies in the freedom I have while working for a client. Especially in the field of culture those freedoms can be wide and offer a big playground for own ideas and experiments. I value inputs from clients and love the challenge to create a surprisingly refreshing piece of design
that meets the needs of the client and is artistically satisfying for me too. Of course on the other hand I am sketching a lot and from time to time I try to set up artistic projects of my own. I love this mix of working on personal projects and, at the same time, having big campaigns for well-known clients. It is the balance of the two that does it for me. What do you think about such projects as Red Bull Curates? A great opportunity to exchange with people on a personal and creative basis. It allows you to meet inspiring people, learn new skills, techniques and workflows and of course hang out with friends and have a good time. You mentioned your job as a teacher. What advice can you give our younger readers who are interested in becoming illustrators? The main thing is to have fun and always keep trying. Staying on top of things leads to a constant development of skills and motivates you to deliver good work at all times. It is good to meet challenges and always set new and higher goals for yourself. Being interested in one’s surroundings helps a lot. Going out and meeting new people is a great way to make contacts that will probably be of value one day. The reflection and exchange with other artists is crucial and can bring great benefits. I believe that in the long term good work is always going to shine and, with a bit of self-confidence, will lead to some degree of success.
www.facebook.com/amadeus.waltenspuehl
www.facebook.com/amadeus.waltenspuehl
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Please tell us what the Korsett Kollektiv is. The Korsett Kollektiv is a heterogeneous network currently consisting of 16 friends with an artistic or musical background. There are multimedia artists, sound designers, DJs, VJs, artists, designers and promoters. Founded in 2005, its focus lies on promoting creative exchange, using synergies, arranging unconventional events and concerts in the field of electro-acoustic sound, exhibitions and video performances. Recently it also started acting as a music label and so far the Korsett Kollektiv has had six releases. The last song that thrilled you? The Remote Viewer – “I “Waited But Nothing Happened”. The last thing you had to fight for? For my side of the bed. If you could be a thing, what would you like to be? Why? A pencil in the hand of John K. So I could admire at first hand the creative outpourings of his mind of madness that he brings to paper. What do you hope to accomplish in the next two years of your life? Generally I am very pleased with the exciting jobs and projects that I am able to work on. A long-term goal would be to find the time to work a couple of months on some new creative fields and have even more diversity in my everyday life, which currently consists of illustration only. I could imagine concentrating on reduced graphic design, typography/ calligraphy, art/murals or working on a complex motion film. It would be nice to work in a less stressed environment and to work less, live more... Anything else you want to let people know? Any shout-outs? Shout-outs? Okay, why not: my beloved lörm, my family, the korsett posse with Päddy, Sommi, Spiess, Kkkkkade, Wes21 and Marc, the good Simonesli, Arturo Fastoni, Mias, Kemane and a big thank you to Catriona! ._. Interview: Max Chill Photos: amadey
www.suffix.tv
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www.suffix.tv
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Miami, USA, 2012. Photo by Peter Vahan
ABOVE Best hustle you’ve ever pulled?
«Convincing the world I don’t exist.»
ABOVE (1'681 weeks old) | Artist | Born in California but has been nomadic since he was old enough to save money to afford plane fuel
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www.goabove.com
Lima, Peru, 2012
www.howandnosm.com
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This word play was painted on the exterior wall of Johannesburg's largest diamond trader Jewel City. ÂŤI was able to get away with this diamond wall heist because I told the owners I would paint in big letters "Diamonds are a woman's best friend" on the exterior of their building. The owners loved the idea and all quickly agreed. The next day I had started painting but what the owners didn't know is that I lied to them and was hijacking their wall. Like any premeditated robbery, situations are not what they seem and shit can flip from best friends to worst enemies in a few moments.Âť Above 2012. London, UK, 2013 Berlin, Germany, 2012
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Above_(artist)
Your work is very site-specific. What comes first - the idea or the site? It’s split between both: the idea, and the site. Observing a location often spawns a sentiment or idea, which burdens me with hours of brainstorming and refining my idea. Sometimes it’s the idea that then makes me visualize a location it would best suited for. Does that make sense?
Please describe yourself. I’m left handed, therefore I’m never right. My friends say I smile and laugh too much. I am passionate about exploring the world and adventuring into unknown areas. Nollie heelflips, smith grinds, and big frontside 180s. Notorious B.I.G. instead of Tupac. Screen printing is amazingly fun: hard work pays off. The journey is more important than the destination. I love loud music, Mexican food, foreign languages, the female body, honesty, integrity, passion, gusto, and respect. Talking out loud to yourself is just fine in my book. Learn from your mistakes, fall down twice, get up three times. Visualize your future, manifest your dreams. Life is short, do something with it!
Sure, that makes sense. Is there a project/ artwork that you are especially proud of? Why? I feel really proud once I have finished a site-specific stencil. The foundation of my stencil works is to paint the stencil in a site-specific situation. Most often I am searching around a city for a certain spot 2-5 months before I find the situation. The longest something has taken me to find was 8 months. I finally found it in Madrid, Spain of all places. It is magical when I find the street situation I’ve been searching for. It’s like the scene is set up, then all I need to do is paint the stencil. It sounds crazy, but finding spots like that make me most proud.
What question would you like to be asked in an interview? What would be your answer? We heard you pulled off a nearly impossible triple jump earlier this year in California. What do you want to say about that? My answer: No comment. Why "ABOVE"? Because ‘BELOW’ was already taken. I chose it originally for the letters and how they worked together. When I was a kid growing up in California all the really good taggers had 5-letter names. TWIST, AMAZE, SABER, REVOK, VEGAN, HEART...etc. I wanted a name with five letters that had some flow and a vague message. It’s since evolved but that’s where it started. You moved from San Francisco to Paris in 1999. Who did you hang out with? How important was this time for your artistic career? I originally got into graffiti when I was 15 with my skateboard friends. After 2-3 years all my tagging friends just fell off and stopped altogether. I kept painting and didn’t mind doing it alone. I’ve never been in a crew and never wanted to. I’m the guy you find walking the streets at night alone just doing my thing. Having said that, I didn’t hang out with anyone in graffiti terms. In Paris there was this Danish girl named Astrid I hung out with a lot. Moving to Paris in 1999 was the fire starter of what is now my career. I happened to be in the right place at the right time. In early 2000 Paris removed 90% of the street-level pieces, leaving the graffiti scene for dead. When I moved to Paris I decided to transition my name ABOVE to an icon of an arrow point ABOVE. The combination of the arrow icon and fresh clean streets of Paris were nothing less than ideal. I honestly believe street art was born in Paris at this time. Many of the early pioneers like Andre, Space Invader, Zevs, Stak, Honet, were creating illegal works on the streets but in a style free from letters and more with icons and characters. I was just in the right place at the right time. Let's talk about your artworks. You have several styles of expression. What would you say is your common thread? My ‘art’ is more about a message than it is about something visually beautiful to look at. In the past years I’ve been extremely passionate about painting funny or ironic wordplay paintings as well as social and political stencils. My art for me is most powerful when I’m making a statement about current affairs in the world. I feel artworks with a message that the general public can digest and understand are most powerful and engaging. I strive to make artworks that resonate with the general public and make them question and think.
Solo exhibition at Metro Gallery in Melbourne, Australia titled 'Jet Set.' 2012
«The arrow reminds me to push myself, rise above my goals and conquer challenges. It's not always easy nor am I always able to rise above certain obstacles.»
Painting on the streets means also dealing with local people. Please give us one of the best experiences you’ve had with local people. One of the charms of painting on the streets is the interaction with the general public. In my 16 years of experience, Europeans are always the nicest and most interested in what’s going on. Americans are on the opposite end, they tend to be skeptical, aggressive and just plain lame. I’ve been fortunate to have some funny experiences. Believe it or not, several times in Europe and South America, I’ve been approached by random people on the street while painting. We start talking and one thing leads to another. Before you know it, I’m invited back to their house for dinner with their family. I reckon it happens often because I’m not scared of accepting invitations and am open to the adventure of it all. Why not?! ... and one of your worst? Probably, New York City. are, well….New Yorkers.
People there
What’s been playing on your mind recently? I ask myself a lot about what is important and not so important to me in my life. What I can/can’t live without. With anything there are pros and cons to a decision. Through my travels and artworks I’m able to look at certain aspects of my life from a different perspective. What it all boils down to is happiness and how to be creative every moment of every day. That’s what’s been playing on my mind. Your first solo show was only in 2010. Why did you wait so long and what made you finally say yes to galleries? To put it simply, I love to travel. I preferred to be outside in a foreign country instead of inside a studio working. I know as I get older I won’t be able to travel as much as I
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Hollywood, USA, 2012
Solo exhibition at Metro Gallery in Melbourne, Australia titled 'Jet Set.' 2012 Miami, USA, 2012
Berlin, Germany, 2012 Paris, France, 2013
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ÂŤWall st. protests were gaining more momentum around the world. With the current global affairs and extremely high visibility I decided to appropriate the popular proverb "Give a fool enough rope and he will hang himself"Âť. Miami, USA, 2012
Cape Town, South Africa, 2012
www.goabove.com
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have been doing, but for the time being I decline shows as it restricts me from doing what I love: travelling and painting on the streets. My first ever gallery show was a duo show with Blek le Rat. We were in Paris talking in 2009 and he proposed the idea of having my debut show with him. The rest is history. What's your approach when doing works for a gallery show? Is it site-specific as well? Looking back at the handful of gallery shows that I have decided to do, they have all had a strong and consistent theme within the works. My outdoor works are very site-specific because they stay there. Indoor artworks in a gallery are sold and then shipped around the world to the collectors’ houses. What’s the last thing you had to fight for? Yesterday I was painting a shutter here in London. It was illegal during the daytime and the lady who owned the shutter happened to walk by as I was painting. I had to make up a story about how I had permission. Obviously she wasn’t having any of my story. We kept talking back and forth until she started to get really angry. I kept my cool the whole time, trying to explain that I had permission to paint. This story, and the fact I was keeping my calm, made her even more livid I reckon. You know when someone is in an argument and the other person is cool as a cucumber. It fucking irritates the other person even more. I told her I wanted to finish painting her shutter, take a photo, then paint over everything again. She was furious and she was calling the police. I grabbed my paint and took off. Last night I lost that battle, today when I assume she is at work I’ll go finish it. Hopefully I’ll win this fight. If you could be a thing, what would you like to be? Why? When you say a ‘thing’ I instantly think of an animal. You know something living instead of say, a bicycle. Ermmm, good question, let me think about that a bit more… What's coming next from ABOVE? I prefer to talk about my past, instead of my future plans. You will see as time goes on. What will the street art movement be like in the year 2033? I don’t really care what the street art movement will be like in 2033. I’m way more concerned about how the world will be in 2033. We need to wise up and start taking care of our natural resources and each other. I hope a big natural ‘disaster’ (or cleanse) happens and wipes out half of the world’s population. We need a big renewal and change. At the rate and style society is going I doubt we’ll even make 2033. I’d be more than ready to die in a natural disaster if it meant I would be contributing to cleansing the earth.100% ready to die for that…No worries at all, I’ve had a great life already. Best hustle you’ve ever pulled? Convincing the world I don’t exist. Anything else you want to let people know? Rise above your fears, challenges and reach for your dreams. Life is short and unexpected. Go explore the world, smile, and be creative every day. Thank you for your time, interest and support. ._. Interview: Lain Photos: Peter Vahan
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ÂŤI was joking around with the pun about how Left Handers are never "Right". Being left handed myself I tried to see if I could be "right"Âť. Arms painted by RIPO. Santiago, Chile, 2012
www.goabove.com
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Danube Canal. Photo by Markus "Meq" Fischer
FOCUS ON
www.amateur-magazine.com www.howandnosm.com
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WELCOME TO VIENNA We arrived in Vienna on a cold day in February. Not really the best time to start. The cold wind was blowing through the wide Viennese streets, welcoming neither strangers nor locals. There was snow on the ground and the “Watch out, roof avalanche” poles could be seen on the baroque façades.
Kind of a gray area when it comes to the law is the Danube Canal. Apart from the short legal parts (check out www.wienerwand.at), it is officially not allowed to paint by the Canal, but honestly nobody really cares. That's why colors dominate over gray for about two miles on each bank. Knarf, Fresh Max or Mafia are regular guests here. (For Amateur they
Two weeks earlier my girlfriend received a one year fixed-term job offer from a Viennese design office. One year Vienna, why not? We grabbed our laptops, packed our bags and made the move. Being able to work anywhere is probably one of the best perks of being a freelancer.
created the illu battle double-page 46 & 47.)
Thanks to my participation at the Ink on your Floor festival in 2009 in Graz I already knew some creative minds who had moved to Vienna in the meantime and who helped ease my way into the new environment. One of them is the artist Oliver Toman who runs the design bureau Wald & Schwert (page 44) with his wife Isa. He was one of the festival organizers. Whenever I was in need of advice about Vienna, like where to get stuff or what to do on the weekends, he was my first port of call. Up to recently Oliver had his studio inside the Adhocrates Hub (page 44), a space and shelter for artists mostly with boardsport backgrounds run by Lilo Krebernik, where I was guest on a regular basis. Another artist I already knew from my time in Graz is Nychos (interview on pages 48-55). I don't think he needs much introduction – even if you are not really into mural art, the chances that you have seen one of his artworks are very high; be it in the virtual world or somewhere around the globe. In the past four years I only met him a few times in Berlin, Zurich or on Skype but nevertheless he accepted my self-initiated invitation to paint in his studio for a few weeks, which was terrific for me for several reasons: on the one hand I had a super nice place to indulge my painting and on the other hand I had the chance to get to know this charismatic person a bit better. Even today I'm still stoked about his great and fast drawing skills. Through Nychos I got to know the Sobekcis twins (see their art from pages 56 to 59) who held an exhibition at Nychos' art space “Rabbit Eye Movement” in March, already before I stumbled upon the young twins' colorful output on the streets. “To each age its art – to art its freedom” can be read above the entrance gate of the Secession building near today’s Naschmarkt. The term “Secession” was a reference to the artists' separation from tradition. Gustav Klimt, the first president of the Secession, wrote that it was “necessary for the Viennese art world to develop a more lively relationship with the progressive developments of art abroad and to conceive exhibitions purely on artistic merit, independent of market forces.” That was in 1897! The times appear not to have changed much and the secessionist spirit could easily be adapted to (street art in) 2013.
Danube Canal
No matter what the various motivations for putting color on Viennese walls are, it is quite likely that the individuals bought their paints at Somogyi (page 45). Vienna’s ‘old guy’ has been selling cans since 1979 and belongs to Vienna's writer scene like the giant wheel belongs to the Prater. While I write these lines it's already October. Time flies and two thirds of my stay here are over. Summer has long gone and the numerous sidewalk cafés, be it along the Danube Canal, the Museumsquartier or the seventh district have brought their chairs and tables inside. The cold wind is starting to blow again and it would seem that I can hear it whistle “Bye, bye”. “Thank you Vienna, I'll miss you,” I hear myself whisper. ._. Text, Illus & Photos: Lain
Vienna has a rich art history and loads of great museums and galleries. But the whole array of “urban art” forms can also be discovered outside: from legal murals or legal gray area walls to painted metro trains and bombed train lines, the two-million metropolis has everything to offer that stirs the urban artist's blood. Over the past years the gallery duo Nathalie & Nicholas from Inoperable (page 45) have brought a myriad of international renowned artists like Roa,
Hyuro, Alexis Diaz, Jaz and Amose (all within the past 5 months) to Vienna. On the one hand they organize exhibitions in their gallery and on the other they acquire city walls for the artists to paint and thereby do a lot for the good reputation of art on the streets of Vienna. Pretty much on the other end of the wide “street art” spectrum, when walking through Vienna’s streets I come across names like Shue (interview on pages 64 – 69), Phekt, Luxus, Bild, Alle, WE ARE, ULFS, Curtis, Bones, Ehre, Keramik, Skirl, Daten, Kwin, Busk, Earl & Grey or U5 as well as Swiss names like RX1. To name just a few. Not forgetting Puber. Since his arrival some months ago and without respect for anyone – be it for other writers or kids paintings on kindergarten walls – he tags the whole city. Without any attempt at aesthetics the “most hated”, as he calls himself, has spread across Vienna’s cityscape like wildfire. The most recent response from his angry fellow artists is the “Reiss Dich Zammn” stencils (Viennese German for “Pull yourself together”) crossing his tags. Karma has a way of bouncing back at you I guess.
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Kaiserwasser
Secession building
Poseidon and friends
Burggasse. Mural by Jaz
Breite Gasse
Mondscheingasse
Urania & Danube Canal. Photo by Markus "Meq" Fischer
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EAT & DRINK Adria Wien, Herminengasse-Promenadenweg Aera, Gonzagagasse 11 Amerlingbeisl, Stiftgasse 8 Cafe Drechsler, Linke Wienzeile 22 Cafe Jelinek, Otto-Bauer-Gasse 5 Cafe Korb, Brandstätte 9 Cafe Latte, Neubaugasse 39 Cafe Sperl, Gumpendorfer Straße 11 Cafe Sopherl, Linke Wienzeile 34 Donau Bar, Karl-Schweighofer-Gasse 10 Espresso, Burggasse 57 Wirr, Burggasse 70 Pizza Mari', Leopoldsgasse 23a Phil, Gumpendorfer Straße 10 Prückel, Stubenring 24 Radlager, Operngasse 28 Loos Bar, Kärntner Durchgang 10 NENI im Zweiten, Praterstraße 1 Werkzeug H, Schönbrunner Straße 61 Zweitbester, Heumühlgasse 2
BUY Arnold's, Siebensterngasse 52 Bilderbox, Kirchengasse 40 Comerc Store, Westbahnstrasse 20 Commonpeople, Kirchengasse 18 Die Sellerie, Burggasse 21 District 7, Siebensterngasse 35 Fame, Franz-Josefs-Kai 31-33 FREITAG Store, Neubaugasse 26 Lia Wolf Bookstore, Bäckerstrasse 2 Paar Sneakerboutique, Siebensterngasse 52 Sixxa, Kirchengasse 22 Stil-Laden, Lindengasse 51 Somogy Colorstore, Burggasse 62 We Bandits, Theobaldgasse 14 Wood Wood, Zollergasse 29 Zapateria, Kirchengasse 26
ART Adhoc Artspace, Kienmayergasse 22 Gallery Hilger Next, Absberggasse 27 MAK, Stubenring 5 Museumsquartier (MQ), Museumsplatz 1 Museum of Art History, Burgring 5 MuMok, Museumsplatz 1 Kunsthalle, Museumsplatz 1 Ostlicht, Absberggasse 27 REM Artspace, Gumpendorfer Straße 91 Street Art Passage, Museumsplatz 1 Westlicht, Westbahnstraße 40 WUK, Währinger Straße 59
LEGAL WALLS (www.wienerwand.at) Arne-Carlsson Park (Tram 37, 38, 40, 41 or 42) Esterhazypark (U3, Neubaugasse) Nordbrücke (U6, Alte Donau) Nussdorfer Lände (U4, Heiligenstadt) Obere Donaustrasse (U4, Schottenring) Rossauer Lände (U4, Heiligenstadt) Spielplatz Lidlgasse (Bus 10A, Richthausenstrasse) Yppenplatz (U6, Josefstädterstrasse)
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ADHOCPAD ARTSPACE Kienmayergasse 22, 1140 Wien
What is the idea behind the AdhocPAD? It's basically our vision of a creative space turned into reality. We always wanted to have a place where we could experiment, work, live, skate, host friends and collaborate with other artists. So when we moved to Vienna we had some pictures in our heads, and when we found the location we knew it could be turned into something that's here to create good stuff. Since moving in we have hosted a couple of art shows. We share the screen print workshop and office space with other artists. The infrastructure is key, there's the exhibition space/showroom, the workshop in the basement with all the tools, screen printing equipment, sewing machines etc., the upstairs office is a big open room with desk space, there's a meeting room to hang out in, and the shed in the garden has a 4ft mini ramp inside. You were a professional snowboarder in the nineties. What do snowboarding and art have in common? I guess the most obvious thing is that both are style-driven. No matter what level you're at or how good your technique is, style is a key point. Drawing your individual lines, no matter if it's a canvas or an untouched mountain peak. And snowboarding, but skateboarding even more so, was always a great platform for artists, no matter if it was designs on the boards, the networks or the countless people who made a transition from sports to galleries. For me it's also the attitude and the family feeling…being around a bunch of people who have a thing in common that the mainstream doesn't understand, because they think it doesn't contribute (but it actually does). Who would be your favorite artist to come by adhocPAD? At the top of my list are Natas Kaupas, Mark Gonzales, Don Pendleton and Lance Mountain, no question! So guys, if you read this, drop me a line, haha! Words to live by? Quoting Lance Mountain: "Skateboarding doesn’t make you a skateboarder: not being able to stop skateboarding makes you a skateboarder.” I guess that counts for most of the things we're really into. Favorite place to chill in summertime in Vienna? Besides our backyard it's probably the Museumsquartier or the WUK cultural center. Favorite place to party in Vienna? Arena if it's a good gig. Favorite place to see art in Vienna? The INOPERAbLE gallery for sure, they're doing a great job. Donaukanal when it comes to graffiti, or the Museumsquartier.
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Isa & Oliver - doing stuff that makes them happy
WALD & SCHWERT hello@waldundschwert.com
Who is Wald & Schwert? Wald & Schwert are a creative couple who live and work in Vienna, where they are having a wonderful time. What do you do? We do illustrations, graphic design, screen printing, painting and a lot more stuff that makes us happy. Words to live by: “It's inner strength that makes the mighty” (Samurai Jack) Favorite place to chill in summertime in Vienna? We love to wander through the streets in the first district, where we pretend to be on our holidays. And when we feel the need to be in a more crowded place we visit the Museumsquartier and watch what’s happening around us. Favorite place to party in Vienna? At this point we feel a little old (laughing). As we love to have a late night coffee instead of partying we would suggest visiting PHIL on Gumpendorferstrasse for a caffeine boost and a browse through the nice books, CD’s and other stuff. It’s very cozy there. Favorite place to see art in Vienna? A place to get inspired by the old masters is definitely the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History). A more contemporary place is the INOPERAbLE Gallery. Favorite bar/café in Vienna? Café Jelinek is one of our favorite cafés. It has a very nice, old and honest style. As soon as you walk in, you feel pretty relaxed and transported into another time.
Favorite bar/café in Vienna? Espresso in Burggasse and Wirr.
Favorite shop in Vienna? A nice place to get rid of your money is Lia Wolf’s small, beautiful bookstore in the first district of Vienna. She has a big range of graphic books and lots of photography stuff.
www.adhocrates.net
www.waldundschwert.com
INOPERAbLE GALLERY Secret Location, Check their website.
Please describe the INOPERAbLE gallery. Past, present, future. INOPERAbLE started out as a small studio project space and was the first place in Vienna dedicated to the urban art scene. We showed artists from all over the world and built a strong community in Vienna. And we still continue to show local and international artists but through the contacts we have made over the years we are doing more projects outside of the gallery to help make the city more appealing to a wide audience. We believe these outdoor projects are a vital aspect of showing the artists inside as well as outside. INOPERAbLE on Burggasse will close at the end of summer 2013; we will reopen in a bigger and better location within a few months but you'll have to stay tuned to our website for more info about that... How do you choose your artists? All of the artists are chosen by both of us. We have very similar tastes, and have developed fairly simple selection criteria over the years. Of course the artwork has to be of a certain skill level, but what is also extremely important is that the artist has a positive work ethic, and shows an extreme passion for their art. Who is still missing from your list? Dran, Escif, Faith47, Evol, Know Hope, La Pandilla, Saner... There are so many talented artists out there and so many more coming up that I guess our missing list is endless. We are really excited about what artists will pop up in the next months and years! That’s what we find so exciting, that the scene is always developing and growing. What kind of people buy art at your gallery? The people who buy at INOPERAbLE come from all kinds of backgrounds. We try to keep art available at all price ranges so we have a lot of students and young art lovers. But we also have another generation of collectors who have often grown up around hip hop culture and street art and now have highly paid jobs working in design agencies, law firms, or entrepreneurs. Instead of spending their money on cars or other material items, they enjoy supporting the artists who left such an impression on them. It’s this balance that allows us to keep the gallery going and catering to both audiences. Graffiti/street art/urban art, whatever you want to call it, this art form speaks to an extremely wide audience, and INOPERAbLE welcomes everyone. Who are the hotshots for 2014? There are too many artists doing great things right now to name a few. There are so many great projects happening all over the world, it’s great seeing what opportunities these artists are receiving.
SM AL L
TAL K
Nathalie Halgand & Nicholas Platzer who run INOPERAbLE. Photo by Markus "Meq" Fischer
Words to live by? If you can make it in Vienna, you can make it anywhere. Favorite place to chill in summertime in Vienna? The Museumsquartier is always great to meet up for predrinks outside at night, or in one of the countless parks, like the Volksgarten. Vienna has loads of places to swim including lakes or the Danube. Favorite place to party in Vienna? Anywhere with a good sound system, good people, and decently priced drinks. There are loads of people organizing cool parties in different locations, so the parties are more about who organizes them rather than where they are. Favorite place to see art in Vienna (apart from INOPERAbLE of course)? There are some nice galleries with interesting exhibitions on Eschenbachstrasse in the first district. Also the Ankerbrotfabrik in the 10th district with Galerie Hilger and Westlicht for photography are nice. Favorite bar/café in Vienna? Favorite bar: Loos Bar Favorite café: Cafe Sperl Favorite shop in Vienna? The seventh district is full of great shops. It depends on what you are looking for but throughout the side streets of Mariahilferstrasse are lots of small boutiques, independently run shops that make the area so unique and nice to walk around in. Of course there also lots of great shops in other districts, but the seventh really seems to be the most concentrated. www.inoperable.at
Roman Somogyi in his colorstore. Photo by Markus "Meq" Fischer
SOMOGYI COLORSTORE Burggasse 62, 1070 Wien
Hi Roman, when did you start selling cans of spray paint? In 1976 for my former boss, and in 1987 on my own. How many cans do you think you have sold since then? 50 per week when I started selling in 1976. And 500-1000 per week now so I think approximately 500,000 in all these years. Woah! You can do a lot of spraying with that amount of color! Yeah, but we have a lot of modelers buying cans as well. I'm sure it takes a hell of a lot of cans to paint a model car. Anyway. Can you see a change of favorite color ranges since then? It's always changing. Words to live by? Bob Dylan – “I Shall Be Released”. Favorite place to chill in summertime in Vienna? Color Store Vienna + Espresso + Tel Aviv Beach + NENI am Naschmarkt + NENI im Zweiten. Favorite place to party in Vienna? My garden (only for me and close friends/ family). Tel Aviv Beach + Espresso. Favorite place to see art in Vienna? Inoperable Gallery Favorite bar/café in Vienna? Espresso. www.somogyi.at
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Dissection of a fox, mixed media on canvas, 2012. Photo by Heidi Pein
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Nychos in his studio. September 2013. Photo by Markus "Meq" Fischer
NYCHOS How does a typical Nychos day in Vienna look like?
«Well, hmmm. It's been a long time. I’ve forgotten how it was.»
Nychos (32) | Artist & white rabbit | Born in Austria, home everywhere
www.rabbiteyemovement.at
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I had the pleasure of chatting with Nychos about his motivation to always push it further, his documentary, the Rabbit Eye Movement, nightmares and acid trips. We met in the backyard of Cafe Latte in Vienna on a warm September day. Enjoy. Who introduced you to graffiti? Good question. You know, back then I used to live in a small town near Graz in the south of Austria. There wasn’t too much going on as far as graffiti was concerned. The only crew was The Evil Troops (TET); there was one guy called NEO. He was doing something else to what graffiti in Austria normally looked like back then. You could see that he was not only a writer but also an illustrator, which was very inspiring for me. That really caught my attention. You know, back then, I didn't know how to add color to my drawings and graffiti showed me a very easy way of doing it. And it was fun. And actionpacked. Let's jump to the present. Nowadays you make a living from your artistic skills and spraying somehow became daily business for you. But do you still feel the same as you felt in the beginning? I think that's a point everybody has to face on a daily basis. It's the point of deciding. You know, on my way – up to where I am now – I had to face so many decisions. You can be a tagger, you can be bomber, a vandal, an artist, you can focus on character design, you can be a more graphic-related writer, and so on. It's up to you to decide what you want to be in the end. Personally, I always try to remember why I started it back then; what my main drive was and in my case it was being a good illustrator and I always wanted to tell a story on the walls. Kind of generating emotions was my thing; and it still is. You know, sometimes when I'm painting and I get lost in technical craziness, which takes so much energy, thinking about my original intentions kind of motivates me. Speaking of details: your artwork is indeed very detailed. I heard you work with fat caps mainly. True? Yeah that's true. Who told you? (Laughter) No names! Let's talk about the motifs of your artworks. You've been doing lots of anatomical, exploded-view drawings that have kind of become your trademark. Do we have to worry that you will run out of animals soon? Or in other words: do you ever think about what's coming next from Nychos? I think a lot about that. Sure. And actually I'm already much further in my head than the stuff you are seeing now. I don't want to tell too much just yet. Just keep your eyes open and see what the future holds. You know, the thing is that you have to take small steps because otherwise people just don't get it – if you do the steps only inside your head people can’t see the process and can't really follow your work anymore. For example at my show in Detroit entitled “I'd Like To Meat You” which was mainly based on flesh, meat and bones, you could see that people weren’t really ready for it because they were expecting the classic Nychos shit. I understand. I saw your video of Detroit recently. Since the beginning of this year you have mostly been accompanied by a filmmaker/photographer when you travel. Could you please tell us something about that? Yeah, that's right. You know, I had the idea for a documentary in mind for a while but I just never found someone who was keen on the whole culture. When I told Christian Fischer, a good friend of mine, about the whole idea of “The Deepest Depths of the Burrow” (which is the title of the movie), he was really up for the whole thing. It was important to me to find a good
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Detroit, USA, 2013. Photo by Christian Fischer
www.rabbiteyemovement.at
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filmmaker who shares the same spirit, you know. They have to see the world with the same eyes, and since Christian is a very good skater too – and skateboarders look at the environment in a similar way to graffiti writers – I knew I’d found my man. So far we mainly made the United States. We had stops in Detroit, New York, San Francisco and LA. And most recently Luxembourg. There is a lot more to come, we will go to Hawaii, Berlin and Miami by the end of the year, and Paris and Vienna too of course. And we have already exceeded our filming time by far. Times have been crazy and as we just got back from Luxembourg, we both need a little break. The whole idea of the movie is the connection between the artists living in certain places and going somewhere where they don't know anything and meeting someone who knows his way around. This allows you to do a lot in a very short time. Some places are fancy, some places are grimier so it is always very different – depending on the location and of course depending the people you meet – but it’s always a lot of fun! When will the movie be finished? The first plan was to have it done before May 2014. I'm not sure if we’re going to finish it by then; we’re going to take our time. I think by the end of summer 2014 is more realistic. We will see, we’ll just take it easy. It needs to be good and good things need time.
streets it had its purpose. Everyone knew the rabbits and the Rabbit Eye Movement and I was kind of pushing that symbol or significant animal. So right from the beginning, it was kind of a cool street art concept. Maybe even a marketing concept – without knowing it and without knowing in which direction it would develop. Looking back, it was a perfect base from which to develop something bigger – like an art space for example. It is also connected to “The Deepest Depths of the Burrow” documentary: it’s all about rabbits who are living in the underground, being afraid of everything. Everybody is their enemy: other animals, hunters but sometimes also other rabbits. In this environment they have to survive, get their shit done and fraternize. It's quite similar in the graffiti world. By the way, it's the same with other urban subcultures too. Another allegory I like is the origin of the wording Rabbit Eye Movement, which is a modification of Rapid Eye Movement; the dream sleep phase. I think that everything you see influences you and gets recycled in your dreams. And you might not know it but ideas might come from your dreams. And now with the REM art space, we have a good place we can use to bring people to Vienna and show their stuff. I think there are loads of good artists out there who nobody knows here in Austria. We enjoy running the space and it's always good to have friends from other countries here. For the future, it is slowly developing towards a brand, working with artists who I appreciate for what they do. Only time will tell what that will look like.
«...rabbits who are living in the underground, being afraid of everything. Everybody is their enemy: other animals, hunters but sometimes also other rabbits. In this environment they have to survive, get their shit done and fraternize.»
When you are not traveling and staying in Vienna, what does a typical day in the life of Nychos entail? Well, hmmm. It's been a long time. I’ve forgotten how it was. Last winter for example, when I was preparing for a show I normally woke up around 9am. I tried to be in the studio by around 10. Mostly, Lucy – my business partner at Rabbit Eye Movement – was already there. She works very hard on Rabbit Eye Movement and her own stuff too. Checking mails, taking calls until midday - mainly organizing things. Then from like 12 to 7 we were working on all the agency jobs and REM or whatever. And then at 7 I finally got time for my own shit. That means I mostly painted until 3 in the morning on canvas or drawings or whatever. As you can see, I didn't get out to paint graffiti in my hometown very much, or let's say not at all. I hope that changes soon.
Let's talk about the Rabbit Eye Movement. What is it? Well, it all started a long time ago. I think it was in 2005 when I started painting a lot of graffiti and I also started putting the rabbit out there on the streets. I think I spent one year just bombing rabbits and I think that was quite enough (laughs). I don't paint rabbits that much anymore. On the
What will the street art movement look like in 20 years? You never know. If I had a DeLorean I could tell you! Will you still be painting? I think so. Well, when I look back at the past ten years, I can see a lot of changes in the game. This summer I was in New York at the ten-year anniversary of Wooster Collective. Blogging was not a big thing ten years ago and it was just about to start. I remember that Wooster Collective was pretty much one of the first blogs that supported several street artists who are now among the biggest names on the scene and are living a good life now. So it definitely helped those artists a lot and Wooster played an important part in elevating street art to a higher level. To a level it deserves, I'd say. So, let's give it another ten years! I see your point. But I think this is a good example of the difference between Europe and the States. What would you say seeing as you know both sides of the pond? Yes, I also think there is a big difference. I can’t really tell where it comes from. Maybe it's the mentality, maybe not. Maybe it's the culture. You know, Americans care more about that kind of art; they are very interested and they are real fans. Maybe that's because of their art history with pop art and comic art. Maybe they have it inside them. You know, when you paint a big wall in New York nowadays, it turns into a block party – whereas in Vienna people just pass by and think “Someone is painting. Whatever”. Both is okay for me, you know, but it's definitely a good thing to see that someone is interested in the shit you do. On the other hand, I really think that it's only a matter of time; in Austria everything takes a little bit longer. Paris is way further, London as well. How was the public reaction to your huge mural in San Francisco? Well, this is actually a very good example of the whole thing: I am Austrian and I was in San Francisco for about five days, yet these people were willing to give me a wall in the Tenderloin district right in the center of San Francisco. There is no mural closer to the center of SF and they gave me absolute freedom of expression. That was unbelievable. They also wanted to buy some of my artworks just to have some originals of the artist who painted their wall. That’s a great sign of respect; respect to art. It made me smile, because something like that almost never happens to me in Vienna. It's great to see that people care that much. Another good reaction was this guy coming by with his bike. I was just taking a break and this guy pulls down his pants. Without saying a word.
No guts, no glory. With Flying Förtress. Dublin, Ireland, 2012
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What the fuck?!
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Eye of the tiger, Tenderloin district, San Francisco, USA, 2013. Photo by Rabbiteye Movement
Dissection of a shark. With Jeff Soto. Honolulu, Hawaii, 2013. Photo by Brandon Shigeta
Dissection of an orca. Brooklyn, New York, USA, 2013. Photo by Christian Fischer
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Yeah. You know, he had an unfinished tattoo of mine on his upper leg and on the other leg he had an unfinished Aryz piece. So he was like: “Check this out. This is my very first tattoo on myself – one of your drawings.” I was stoked. The thing was that it was his first one. It was so badly done that I could have finished it myself even though I don't tattoo at all. (Laughing) That was really cool.
Thanks for the interview Nychos. Thank you! ._. Interview: Lain Photos: Christian Fischer
The other cool thing about San Francisco for me is that the Lords Crew, which me and some other Austrian artists are proud members of, is mainly from the Bay Area. So, I come to this new place and it's like home because everyone takes care of you so much. That's really nice. What's your worst nightmare? Hmmm. Let me think. Losing my right arm would be very bad. But also I'm very afraid of my mind being on acid. Like permanently or what? Hell no! No, I mean just in general. I'm afraid of that kind of drug because I know my mind! What is the biggest risk you have ever taken and was it worth it? I think it's a big risk in general to become an artist in our society. It means working hard and it's a big challenge for sure. I've been putting a lot of energy into it for more than fourteen years now – without any art degree from university. I think that for everybody taking this route it’s a big risk. It means you have to spend a lot of money and time – your whole life actually – and you never know if it's going to work out. But it's definitely worth it. Any shout-outs? Jukebox Cowboys, Lords Crew, The Weird.
www.rabbiteyemovement.at
Visit NYCHOS' studio in a 360° view! Scan the QR-code with your smartphone or visit amateur-magazine.com/nychos
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SOBEKCIS
How would you describe your style?
ÂŤAt the moment we would call it cartoon graffiti.Âť
Sobekcis aka Sobek & Kcis (22) | Graffiti writers, graphic designers, fine artists | Born in Belgrade, Serbia - currently living in Vienna, Austria
sobekcis.tumblr.com
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Please introduce yourself. We are twin brothers working on a common goal: to improve ourselves in our craft as far as possible. We have been working together creatively since the beginning, quickly realizing the potential of this kind of work ethic. Our goal was to work together as much as possible but to still retain an individual signature in our work. But that has changed over time and it’s meanwhile become a more unified way of working: more as one unit. We are still aware of the plus sides of our individual work though. We started painting graffiti in 2006/2007 in Belgrade and began spending more time in the studio in 2012. How did you get into art? We have been interested in drawing since we were children so it just developed and took its path into different mediums. When and why did you move to Vienna? We moved to Vienna in 2010, to start studying at the University of Applied Arts and since then even more opportunities to travel and paint have come our way. How would you describe your style? We tend to change the description for our art work. At the moment we would call it cartoon graffiti.
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Is there a negative aspect to being twins? As with everything in life, there is a good and a bad side to it. It’s just up to the individual how they cope with the two sides. Who are the artists you look up to? Why? This changes from time to time as with every one; you are always inspired more by one artist in one moment and by another in some other moment. What's coming up next? We are currently preparing for an eightday trip to the UK for some painting, and after that we’ll be traveling to Paris to speak about our upcoming exhibition and commissions. Anything else you want to let people know? Any shout-outs? Heavy Artillery! 2013! Stay tuned! ._. Interview: Lain Photos: Sobekcis
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What’s been playing on your mind recently?
PERFEKT WORLD | Kontemporary Kreation Kollektiv | Vienna
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www.perfektworld.net
Portrait photos: Maria Krasa
«Miami, steel and Caravaggio.»
PERFEKT WORLD What is PERFEKT WORLD? PERFEKT WORLD is a Kontemporary Kreation Kollektive. We are a hybrid amalgamation of collaborators creating on an infinite canvas of opportunities. Perfektion is our device. PERFEKT WORLD is an idea, a platform, a boy band, an enterprise, a collective. At its core there is a select group of talents with a heritage rooted in various disciplines. We bring together contrasting perceptions of fine art, graffiti, advertising, media, technology, music and entrepreneurship. It is this diversity and history that allows us to move about freely and fearlessly in the contemporary cosmos. Since our inception in 2007 we have ignored conventions, disregarded boundaries and have approached the world with creations at the interception of art and commerce. Perfekt, misspelled provides the cue. While striving for perfection, we’re recognizing the impossible nature of the attempt. There is no perfection without flaws, stains or mistakes, as we are meeting our demands we fail at the very same moment. We are holding an ironic mirror up to the face of contemporary pop culture. We are remixing, recycling and elevating kitsch in an endless loop creating a neon utopia, a polished parallel universe, a PERFEKT WORLD.
What was the last thing you had to fight for? We’re constantly fighting. If you could be a thing, what would you like to be? Why? A huge Transformer. A modular hovercraft that shoots trikes with spin wheels and a badass sound system. Transformers rule. What do you like most about Vienna? The people, our studio, the heritage, its urbanity and being so close to nature’s heartbeat creates a very unique vibe. It has more momentum than it has had in the last 100 years. Favorite place to party in Vienna? ‘One's company, two's a crowd, and three's a party.’ So we are pretty selfsufficient. Other than that, Grelle Forelle and Pratersauna. Favorite place to see art in Vienna? Visiting other artists’ studios, PERFEKT BOX at the MQ, Galerie Hilger, Inoperable Gallery, MuMok, Kunsthalle and temporary open spaces and galleries.
Do you collaborate within an artwork or is each one of you doing your own stuff? We are relentless collaborators. While the level of contribution varies, every piece carries at the least a brushstroke of each and every one of us. Be it literally, virtually or conceptually.
Favorite bar/café in Vienna? Donau Bar, they’ve been good to us over the years. Jelinek, Prückel, Korb, Cafe Sopherl. ._.
How would you define the PERFEKT WORLD style? Artistic road-kill served on golden plates.
Interview: Ray Magic Photos: Katharina Stögmüller, Maria Krasa, Studio21
CitySlayer III, 330 x 300 x 175 cm, Mixed media, 2013. Photo: Katharina Stögmüller
www.perfekttumblr.net
Gotham, 80 x 53 cm, Marker & spraypaint on poster, 2012. Photo: Studio21
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Photo: Katharina Stögmüller
www.perfektworld.net
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PERFEKT WORLD, Ghetto Kings, 150 x 300 cm, Oil on Canvas, 2013
According to Vienna Tourist Board, the city attracts about five million tourists a year. A great part of whom visit the historic center of Vienna with its architectural ensembles, including baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late 19th century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks. Yet a handful of visitors have other things on their minds than grand buildings and puffy baroque angels. Txt: Wink One / Photos: Shue As others before us, we toke the train to Vienna with the goal of painting the very popular commuter trains. Armed with bags of spray-paint and a large enough stash of whiskey to get us dead drunk before we arrived in the city the next day. Unfortunately the whiskey had its impact on us and the train stopped unscheduled short before reaching our destination. Accompanied by applause from the other passengers we were taken away by the police. To cut a long story short we finally arrived in Vienna a couple hours late. After passing out in front of the train station, we finally pulled ourselves together to meet our host SHUE. But who is SHUE? Well you can’t travel around Vienna without spotting tags from him everywhere, nice throw-ups and countless color pieces along the train line. He’s been going strong for nearly two decades and it’s more than worthy to feature him in this issue. SHUE is a great person. He’s the type of guy that loves life and still gets a great kick out of going out and putting up his name on the streets. He started painting back in ’94 with Phekto and Brö. His crews are the lords crew and go*on. Asked about the origin of his name, he replies, “Unfortunately when I started writing, creative attention was not focused on the meaning and looks of my name.” So he just carried on with the nickname he was given, “Nowadays I would decide differently, but that’s who I am so I have stuck to it to the present day.” After being long in the trade myself I value artists who are one with what they paint. Their personality, thinking and way of life are reflected in their art. There is an honesty to their work. And despite different names and styles you can tell who did it. Same with SHUE, he has this distinct flow to his pieces that just make you smile. Talking about his lettering he puts it like this: “Simple, fluffy, funny and of course with movement and flow in it. The style may vary but always add your personal note
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www.numberone-actiongear.com
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Above: Kid standing by the first one-man whole train painted legally in Lower Austria Left: High-ranking idiots, hmmm politicians posing in front of a SHUE whole car
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to it. I could never stand still, otherwise I would bore myself.” Just like anybody who has been painting for two decades, writing has a high significance in SHUE’s life. The negative touch to graffiti in society sensitized him and forced him to deal with certain social structures. Probably more than “normal” people ‘cause a writer is confronted with laws, opinions and media coverage, which can make life as a graffiti artist rather difficult. Graff is a topic, that SHUE doesn’t like to talk about with strangers. He explains: “Especially at work or when meeting new people, graffiti is not a topic I like to talk about,” and continues, “First of all it’s nobody's business and I really don’t like graffiti small-talk, and secondly I just want to paint without telling everybody who I am. My pieces are self-explanatory, that’s enough.“ As a consequence many people don’t know much about SHUE’s double life, a form of self-defense that seems to be succeesful. The positive experiences in writing outweight the negative consequences. Nevertheless, graffiti plays an important roll in his life as he tries to find the right balance between his social life and graffiti. The diversity of SHUE’s work reflects his enthusiasm in experimenting with different ways of expressing his art. To him it’s not about re-inventing the wheel or following every trend, it’s much rather about originality and loyalty towards yourself. SHUE brings it to the point: “Do whatever you feel like, as long as it has a certain originality and
its own funk.” He explains that in Vienna there are many more writers now than 20 years ago. The numbers of so-called “street artists” has increased in particular. Whether this is for the better or for the worse is a matter of opinion but time doesn’t stand still, whether you like it or not. What does piss him off is the increasing amount of graffiti tourists who come to Vienna and thrash the yards, making life more difficult for the locals. But all in all Vienna is still very Austrian and laid-back and as he puts it there is still a lot of cool, funny, weird and ambitious graff around. Graffiti artists love to boast and share their yard stories, police raids etc. so I couldn’t resist asking SHUE for some actions tales. His answer was: “Well, yard stories and other funny actions are always a different thing when printed. But one hell of a weird experience was the first legal one-man whole train I painted in Lower Austria. Not the action itself - painting a whole train legally is weird enough - but the whole public opinion regarding graffiti was confused. When it was officially presented, the train drove ten stops to the end station. All high-ranking politicians were there. At every stop they served schnapps and at every second stop the train was welcomed by female and child choirs and folk music. And as if all that weren’t enough, after arriving at the end station the train was blessed by the local pastor. That was the most surreal day of my life for sure!” If any of you guys happen to pass a painted train being blessed by a pastor, take the chance to drink schnapps and listen to some folk music. And maybe, if you are lucky, you will spot SHUE standing in the crowd smiling. .-.
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For those who are expecting this to be an article about the Taliban, war and burqas: please turn the page. The following story is not what you are used to hearing about Afghanistan in the Western media, nor is it what any government’s propaganda wants you to believe. This story celebrates art and culture in Kabul. Afghanistan remains a relatively unknown entity to most Europeans especially when it comes to culture and street art. During a research trip in October 2012, FOCUS director Shakyla Hussain and architect Shervin Shalalvand visited Kabul in order to meet Afghan artists who are amazingly creative despite the conflict that has ravaged their country for decades. In their suitcases they brought with them 26 kilos of king-size portraits and pasted them all around the city center: the best street art action they had ever experienced! I was born and raised in Switzerland. College, university, Master’s degree in international relations, travels all around the world, hired by a great Swiss cultural institution. “A perfect life!” some people would say. But when I graduated something was missing: my Afghan roots were calling me. Born to a Swiss-French mother and an Afghan father, I am from the “moitié-moitié” generation. I grew up in a region where I was always a foreigner because of my name. I knew that I was from somewhere else even though I had never been “there”. I felt like a piece of my identity was missing. After 24 years, I decided to go to Kabul for the first time in 2009. Alone. From Bishkek, where I organized my first artistic exchange between Swiss and Kyrgyz artists, I took the flight to Moscow then Dubai and finally arrived in Kabul on a cold December morning at 6:00 am. I spent a surprising month of December in the Afghan winter volunteering for an NGO. The clash between my quiet comfortable life in Switzerland and that of Afghanistan – where Afghans were being so welcoming, whilst living in such bad conditions themselves, was the hardest emotion to deal with during my stay. Why did I have the right more than anyone else to grow up in a safe and comfortable country? My studies in one of the best education systems in the world would not have been possible in Kabul where most students come from society’s elite. Even though it was my first time in Afghanistan, I felt connected to things I already knew from my childhood: people speaking in Dari (Afghan language close to the Persian Farsi), exquisite taste of the Qabuli Palaw – the national dish consisting of meat or chicken, covered with rice pilaf topped with fried sliced carrots, raisins and chopped nuts like pistachios or almonds – smells of Patu (Afghan wool blanket) while shopping in the Bazaar, moments spent with friends and family at Bagh-e-Babur garden. In other words, I felt at home. By the time I left Afghanistan, I knew that I would come back for my own artistic exchange project. I really wanted to be part of my country’s artistic scene and promote both Kabul based and Afghan diaspora artists. In 2010, I heard about French artist JR’s community project Inside Out. Thanks to several great photographers’ collection, we collected 250 portraits of men, women and children celebrating the beauty of Afghan people’s diversity. The Inside Out project seemed to be easy to organize in my hometown Vevey, where street art actions often took place. But what would happen in a city where art in the public space has been banned for years because of the conflict? What would the people’s reaction be, especially when young men and women would help us paste the posters? However, the most important thing, before any other issues were dealt with, was to get the mayor’s authorization. We did not have any plan or contact when we arrived, but great Afghan and expat friends helped us to get in touch with him. Everything has been a matter of connections. After several calls, we had a meeting planned with his assistant. We spent a funny day explaining our project to all of the collaborators: the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Communication, and the Mayor’s cultural attaché and before each of them we met one or two assistants. That kind of situation would never happen in Switzerland. Ten cups of tea and a few hours later we had accomplished our
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«...for the first time, those walls became an artistic display.»
goal of getting the “Saint Graal”: the Mayor’s authorization and in addition, two of his closest collaborators accompanying us on D-Day! We had the chance to paste the 250 portraits in three different places around the city center of Kabul: Shar Wali, Darulaman Road and the Bazaar. The capital is still marked by the years of conflict and all of the important buildings are surrounded by concrete walls and under police surveillance. But for the first time, those walls became an artistic display. People’s reactions turned into something positive. They were asking who those people were and why their portraits were hanging on the wall. Even the police started to help us when they saw their colleague’s photo! By doing this street art action we wanted to show what Afghanistan really looks like. It’s a country of hope and laughter, and a region in which people have interacted for thousands of years, to which history has given a remarkable cultural diversity. And with a touch of utopianism, we hope that major power will stop interfering in Afghanistan’s politics. People could stop living in the past and build a better future… A future of dreams and art! ._. Text & Photos: Shakyla Hussain
www.focus-art.ch
Created in 2009, the FOCUS association organizes international artistic exchange between Switzerland and other countries. It fosters dialogue and idea sharing between artists from diverse creative milieus. The project SOFA KABUL between Swiss and Afghan artists in the fields of music, cinema and transdisciplinary topics started in June 2013. Check the website for the upcoming Afghan rock nights in Neuch창tel, Zurich, Bern and Vevey in January 2014.
www.insideoutproject.net
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Hi Jeroen. What is the idea behind The Jaunt? The idea behind the Jaunt is that we combine the two best things in life: art & travel. We send artists on short trips to new destinations. Places that they haven't been to before. While they are on their trip, they meet new people, see new places, collect new impressions and ultimately find new inspiration. Once they come back from their travels they make an artwork based on the inspiration they found, and we make a limited edition screen print of this artwork. However, we only sell the prints beforehand, sight unseen. So you only know which artist is going to which location, but not yet what the artwork will look like. This way we engage people to really become part of the process and send the artist on their trip. In return they get a good price on the prints, and they get to follow the artists on their travels while they keep a travel diary on our blog. How many trips per year? We're in the first year now, and this year we'll be doing a total of five trips. But I’m hoping to bump that up to a total of six trips each year. Every two months a new trip, a new destination and a new artist. Which trips with which artist were already taken? We've made a total of three trips so far. The first trip sent the artist Hedof, to Helsinki. Helsinki was a place that was on the top of his wish list, so it made perfect sense to send him off to the north. For our second trip we went down south towards Porto, Portugal with the artist Collin van der Sluijs, to explore a completely new terrain. And our third trip took us to Latvia, where the artist Saša Ostoja, where he rented a car and went on a road trip to explore the forests and nature. Right about now we're into our fourth trip with the artist Amanda Marie. She is a stencil artist from the States and we've send her off to Glasgow, Scotland. Mainly to find out if American people can actually understand what Scottish people are saying! At the beginning of November we'll announce our fifth trip, and final trip of this year on our website and Facebook. How do you choose the artists? Through the other projects that we organize we're in constant touch with a lot of different artists. We talk with a lot of artists about the possibilities of doing a trip for The Jaunt, but everything has to fit. The artist has to be up for it, some artists actually don't enjoy traveling that much! And we have to find the right location to send the artists to, and then sort out the schedules of course. But I guess for now we're mostly looking into our own network of artists. We're not really interested in an open application process yet, but we have a wish list of about 10 to 20 artists now and talk a lot with them. How do you choose the cities? We choose the destinations together with the artists, because it has to be a place where they've never been before. Maybe even a place that they didn't expect to go to. For example while we were talking with Saša Ostoja, he had Italy in his mind, and we ended up with almost the complete opposite by choosing Latvia. It was really refreshing, because he didn't have any expectations when going here and his mind was completely open. We don't want to only go to cities either, I would love to feature a road trip, or send somebody off to a cabin in the woods. Any place in the world is a possibility.
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www.thejaunt.net
Where do the artists stay during their visit? When we are going to a city we pick a hotel and try to find the artist an interesting neighborhood, and this hotel could be anything from a charming little family-run artist hotel to a super fancy design hotel. How many prints are being made? We pride ourselves on offering a high quality, handmade product. All of the screen print series are produced in a limited edition of 50 prints, on 50x70cm and 250-gram Revive paper. All prints are handmade, and personally signed and numbered by the artist. ._. Interview: John Rainbow Photos: Hedof
www.hedof.com
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Hyuro
Valencia, Spain, 2013
www.hyuro.es
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Hyuro
Atlanta, USA, 2012. Photo by Martha Cooper
www.hyuro.es
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Hyuro
Terracina, Italy, 2013
www.hyuro.es
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Ian Cox
www.wallkandy.net
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Ian Cox
www.wallkandy.net
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Kkade
Phly
ZURICH
Amadeus Waltensp端hl QueenKong
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Ruffkid
Lowrider
Like most good ideas, this one is actually quite simple: uniting emerging artists with local venues to create functional pieces of art. During two days, ten artists create ten coolers, which will be on display in ten different venues afterwards. The event created by Red Bull has already taken place in cities like San Francisco, New York, London and Vienna. For the first Swiss edition Red Bull asked Amateur Magazine for assistance in finding the right artists for their plan. “We tried to find ten professionals from different creative fields and from different Swiss regions. The hardest part was the selection,” admits Lain, Amateur’s Creative Director. The decision was made way back when the ten selected artists arrived at their temporary atelier in the west of Zurich. “The best thing was working side by side with the other artists in a very laid-back atmosphere. Having dinner together and really being spoiled by the organizers was just the icing on the cake,” says Zurich-based artist Phly. Arriving from Lausanne, the winner of the wildcard Julie Petter adds: “I profited in many ways during the past two days and got to network with other artists.” Everyone involved seems to be happy about the event and the results so it looks like a winwin-win situation to me. ._. Text: Jean Pen Photos: Colin Frei / Red Bull Content Pool
www.redbull.ch/curates
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Julie Petter
Iuna Tinta
Artists: JULIE PETTER IUNA TINTA QUEENKONG KKADE LOWRIDER AMADEUS WALTENSPÜHL RUFFKID PHLY FAFA STVAN
Julie Petter Phly
Fafa
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Stvan
The opening
www.redbull.ch/curates
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Concrete Pigeons
by Ronzo London-based and German-born Ronzo Fu is not only the creator of illustrious characters like Crunchy the Credit Crunch Monster and ROACHIO WX the giant Cockroach, he is also one of the household names in London street art. The selfproclaimed ‘vandal extraordinaire’ creates everything from small screen prints to large-scale sculptures and murals, while always having one eye on the urban landscape. The Concrete Pigeons are still my favorites. Some naked, some nicely painted, they were released into the urban wildness of East London. Not used to the rough environment and mercilessly hunted by ruthless poachers, most of them did not last very long, although a few hardy ones might be still around. www.ronzo.co.uk
The Anti-Drone Burqa
by Adam Harvey In response to the well-documented, steep increase of US-drone attacks on civilians, artist Adam Harvey teamed up with fashion designer Johanna Bloomfield to develop Anti-Drone Wear. The garments are designed with a metal-coated fabric that masks the wearer’s thermal signature and thereby protects them against thermal imaging surveillance, a technology used widely by drones. According to the inventor, the enhanced garments are lightweight, breathable, and safe to wear. www.ahprojects.com
Bench Exercise
by Sebastian Marbacher One year after launching the builder’s bench during Art Basel Sebastian Marbacher presents yet another bench. Building on the experience gathered from the builder’s bench project, Marbacher dedicated his graduation project at the Zurich University of the Arts to investigating the act of sitting in public. Inspired by artist Richard Artschwager’s statement ’Furniture in its most general sense is an object which celebrates something that people do (…)’, the ’Bench exercise’ celebrates the act of sitting together – outside. As for now, prototypes of the old and the new bench will be temporarily installed at varying spots throughout Switzerland this summer - so keep your eyes open. sebastian.marbacher.com
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Wine Mobile
by Adam Cruces
Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard and Philippe-Albert Lefebvre OVER DESIGN/ UNDER DESIGN
Terrazzo Project I first noticed the work of Stéphane Halmaï-Voisard and PhilippeAlbert Lefebvre at one of the early exhibitions at Depot Basel. Back then they had just founded their workshop and were starting to produce a small series of absolutely stunning furniture. Everything they do, they do with the same material - Terrazzo. Terrazzo is a composite material produced from layers of cement interspersed with chips of glass, marble, quartz, or other material. You might have seen Terrazzo floors in old bathrooms or hallways during visits to Italy, where the technique was originally developed in the 15th century. Halmaï-Voisard and Lefebvre studied, learned and now use this ancient technique to produce cutting-edge interior design objects with a simply amazing surface feel that you’ll find impossible not to touch. www.terrazzoproject.com
by ROLU Matt Olson, Mike Brady and Joe Mollen are ROLU. Their workshop is located in a midsized city northwest of Chicago, about 250 km from the Canadian border. Among other things, they produce simple plywood and OSB furniture that resembles the work of 1970s DIY-godfather Enzo Mari. Recently, newly launched online art dealer Artsy commissioned ROLU to design their booth for this year’s Design Miami/Basel exhibition. ROLU, aware of their carbon footprint, commissioned Sebastian Marbacher and Andre Dintheer, two young industrial designers from Zurich, to build the booth for them. Yet another chapter in the ongoing saga known as ‘the return of acoustic foam as an upholstery material’.
US-born multi-media artist Adam Cruces has had a busy time lately. Besides working on his graduation project that eventually earned him a Master’s in Fine Arts from the Zurich University of Arts, he runs Headquarters (HQ), a conceptual gallery space navigating between the physical and the virtual. He will be exhibiting a newly produced series of objects and installation together with Enrico Boccioletti at the Swiss Institute in Milan this June. His work comes in all types of forms and shapes, including videos, images, installations and articles of daily use that reference ancient and modern fine arts, consumer goods, popular culture and, of course, the internet. The Wine Mobile is a particularly great object. It is fully functional and was created pretty much by accident in the run-up to Lausanne-based graphic designer Louisa Gagliardi’s latest exhibit. Some might call it a humble byproduct of creativity; I like to think of it as a manifestation of true genius. www.adamcruces.com www.theheadquarters.org
www.rolustudio.com
Celeb Bowls
by Damian Fopp Damian Fopp is yet another amazingly ambitious industrial design graduate from the Zurich University of Arts. His 2013 graduation project “Celeb Bowls” consists of five porcelain bowls, which resemble existing swimming pools of Hollywood celebrities. While swimming pools used to be a sign of wealth and glamour, they are merely symbols of mediocrity today. Still, the wealthy have their way to ensure the glitz of their pools: they have them custom built in odd shapes and sizes. Using Google Maps to collect satellite images of such pools, Fopp then scaled them down to produce porcelain bowls of the exact same shapes. Fopp and his hand-crafted bowls were nominated for the 2013 Swiss Federal Design Awards. www.damianfopp.com
Selected by Marius von Holleben
www.mvhabc.com
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Marvel Labbit Marvel X Kozik
Labbit dives into the Marvel Universe on a conquest of domination. Naturally attracted to the baddest butt-holes around, Labbit becomes one with the most wicked and sadistic supers. A mix of super-villains and antiheroes, these Labbits are the ultimate smorkin’ machines. Nuff said. Size: 18 cm Price: 89 CHF
Locodonta Dunny by Jon Paul Kaiser
Never run out of nerve! This 20 cm vinyl tusker dunny is ready to fly. The stunt suit design is topped off with a newly sculpted head - including jet streamed ears - and a single engine jetpack accessory. Limited edition of 1400. Size: 20 cm Price: 169 CHF
Munny by Marvel
Munnyworld and the Marvel Universe collide producing 16 cm masked Munnys. The Munny vinyl figures come with Marvel super hero foam stickers and character specific accessories to transform MUNNY from a secret identity to costumed crime fighter or deadly super villain. With great vinyl comes great responsibility. Size: 16 cm Price: 45 CHF
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Selected by
www.characterstation.com
www.hokusfokus.ch
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HUF
LOWRIDER
WEMOTO
SOM-TEE
WOOD WOOD
HUF
OBEY
OBEY
AFRICAN APPAREL
AWAKE SUPPLY
WEMOTO
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MINDCTRL
SIXPACK FRANCE
SIXPACK FRANCE
ALIAS ONE
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SOM-TEE
WEMOTO
ALIAS ONE
HYPERRAUM 44/46
WEMOTO X VANDALS
BIGGER THAN NEW YORK
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COPE2 X OBEY
STÜSSY
OBEY
WEMOTO
HUF
OBEY
WEMOTO CEIZER
EASTPAK
PRISM
HUF
PRISM ALIAS ONE
EASTPAK WEMOTO
PRISM
ALIAS ONE
EASTPAK
HUF G-SHOCK
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ED TEMPLETON X CASE STUDYO
KIDULT
HUF
WEMOTO
STEVEN HARRINGTON X CASE STUDYO INCASE INCASE STANCE
RASCALS CEIZER
INCASE
NIKE
BWGH NEW BALANCE
SWATCH
CLAE
SPONGE BOB X ICECREAM
CONVERSE
CLAE
CONVERSE
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OBEY
TOPSHOP
ONLY NEW YORK
RAF SIMONS X EASTPAK
SANDRO PARIS PRMTVO
ACNE ESSENTIEL
LALA BERLIN
CARHARTT WORK IN PROGRESS
YASMINE ESLAM
ESSENTIEL
ESSIE ADIDAS OG
CONVERSE DIME PIECE CARHARTT WORK IN PROGRESS
MARA HOFMANN X INCASE
POKETO CAMERA
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KENZO
ZARA RIHANNA X RIVER ISLAND
BABY-G AVELON
THUTHU
KOKOON CONVERSE
SWATCH
OBEY
OTHER STORIES OPENING CEREMONY
ASOS
TOPSHOP
ART YOUTH SOCIETY
MATT AND NATT WOOD WOOD
ZOE KARSSEN
NIKE
Selected by Melplosive
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CONTRIBUTORS Thank you for your work, love & sweat! Above, Kathy Abrecht, Fabien Baudin, Sacha Baer, Chantal Bavaud, Sina Beeler, Sebastian Blomgren, Pierre Bonnet, Alex Braunschmidt, Max Chill, Martha Cooper, Cone, Ian Cox, Jana DesForges, Reto Fischer, Fetz, Colin Frei, Gregor Garkisch, Janine Götz, Stefan Golz, Nathalie Halgand, Hedof, Shakyla Hussain, Hyuro, Axel Just, KCBR, Dave Kinsey, Mike Klaus, Knarf, Lilo Krebernik, Fresh Max, Ray Magic, Marc Müller, Look, Nychos, Jean Pen, Nicholas Platzer, Thomas Raynal, Shue, Roman Somogyi, Jeroen Smeets, Oliver Suter, Isa & Oliver Toman, Vidam, Wink, Amadeus Waltenspühl, Daniel Zehnder, Vedran Zgela, and everyone who should be mentioned here. Art Director & Founder: Alain "Lain" Schibli Digital Editor: Markus "Meq" Fischer Administrator: Manuel "Ti" Mathys 'NumberOne' Editor: Wink 'Well Done' Editor: Marius von Holleben 'Scream' Editor: Mélanie Breitinger 'Eyes on toys' Editor: Georges Mazzei Don of Print: Migi Keck Translators: Paula Hedley, Galina Green
IMPRINT 5000 copies. Published twice a year - April & October. Amateur Magazine is an independent, artist driven, print publication about creative people, projects, products and places. Open-minded about all forms of expressions on walls, canvas, paper or clothes. Editorial address: Amateur Magazine | Postfach 2235 | 5001 Aarau | SWITZERLAND Publisher: Amateur Kunstverein Advertisement: ad@amateur-magazine.com General inquiries: hello@amateur-magazine.com
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