_
Central Zine Q&A March 2012
http://www.centralzine.com/mr-phomer

 

English  version:

 

 

 

 

- Age, place of residence

Born in the 80′s, livin’ large between Lisbon (PT) and London (UK)

- Let`s start for the bug that pin you to feel like express yourself in a graphic and visual mode?

It was a dubious bug. It came out one night when i was a kid, and at first i was afraid, i was petrified, but then it came closer and seemed more like a wise Indian wizard. He told me the ways of getting my own saying trough some spray paint, or by making my own stories, instead of those horrific Disney weird moral ones. Then we went trough a Karate Kid thing ( insert 80′s training movie montage here) and by the end of it i knew i should use the spray, the pens and markers to make my mark on society, or at least in my own street or home. Then later came school and i saw it wasn’t just a crazy thing, there were classes for that, although i didn´t care much for that to be honest.
Anyway, don´t let crazy bugs or old indians get in your room at night, and stay in school kids.

 

 

 

 

- Illustration, photography, 3D, installations, design, powerful street moves and even video direction, you seems to be a tireless artist, what exactly push you to develop all of of those? Is not enough with one or two disciplines?

I guess i’m kinda of a  Michael Angelo, not the renaissance guy, the ninja turtle one, he also did many things, as eating pizza, playing video games and doing ninja stuff at the same time, it seems easy, but you should go out and try that!

The thing is i just like to express myself, it’s a cliché, i know, but it’s just what it is, if i had the time and money, believe me, i would do even more different stuff and try new mediums and platforms. I many times think it’s a mistake, since i just should stick to one thing and style, so i can get get increasingly stronger at that, instead of dispersing myself. I just like to see art as a playground, and there are those kids who stay on the slider all day, and i’m more trying everything available and then get out to cross the street outside the playground, taking the changes of getting hit by a car.

 

 

 

- Define “coolness”

How does one define coolness?.. That’s like asking bird what’s flying.

You can see coolness everyday in the streets, in some kids riding their BMXs to the park, in a cat doing a kick flip over a bench, in a burger wearing shades in the street corner, in the chicks rockin’ kicks with summers dresses, the foxes doin’ some freestyle and beat boxing at night while the cops are chasing some raccoons on the train yard… You just have to be out there with them and you bound to find some Coolness.

- What`s the story/concept behind the (against) Supreme, Moss and Gaga actions.

I was walking by with some friends, trash talking about these hype brands and hype figures and how many times they don’t seem to give much effort or don’t have much to say or do in society, and everybody follows that sh*t, making a ever growing empty headed society. I know they’re just brands or people trying to make the loot, but c’mon, there are a lot of others doing the same and actually say something or do something that matters. So the next day to this, i turned the corner at Brick lane and found those Gaga posters, so it was time to put my words in some kind of action. I just trashed the posters in a kind of childish style fun, and from there to the Internet hype, it just took a few days. This year, as soon as the Moss posters came up in NY, people started to telling me i should do the same again, so as soon as they got to London i just gave in to the peer-pressure.

 

 

 

- Compare Lisbon and London in an “urban art” contexts.

Lisbon is love, it’s my home town, and one of the most beautiful citys in Europe.

The urban art scene there is very strong, as in, there’s this legion of artists, most of them really good, and i’m not just saying this because many are my friends, it’s actually a really good strong scene. The bad thing is, there’s not many platforms for all of these cool people, the city has many abandoned buildings, but the  city council is very strict about letting artists use those places, other than some rare moments, and it’s usually for foreign artists, the gallery scene is also small and very old fashioned, except this new things coming up lately like the Montana Lisboa, and a couple of others, and there’s no market, witch  seems kind of a sell out thing to say when it comes to urban or street art, but the truth is that a market makes things move forward. And that’s the thing about London.

London is great in that, i go to new shows every other day, there are new galleries and shops opening all the time, new magazines,websites, blogs, you name it, the city really supports the arts in general in many different ways,public and private, and the market is really strong , so i think that makes artists bloom much more, i guess it’s a natural thing to be more and better art, when you’re surrounded by art.

- Did you felt the need to get involved in a collective? What`s your grade of contribution to Dflektor?

I’m kind of a lonely wolf, but i do like to ride in a pack. It’s good to work with other cool kids, you get more done, and you grow more when you have other coolness input in your work. We started the Dflektor project with many dreams and objectives, and it began more as a friends thing. Then in grew on to be this platform for different mediums and goals. As many great projects with several great minds, there’s always some conflict,as like in music bands. So we went different ways, and at this time i took the wheel, it’s mainly just me with a couple of friends to help out, and it’s on his way back to action even stronger. So watch out for that.

 

 

 

 

- Most of your work, concretely the “RAP LOGOS” one, is inspired by hip-hop songs from the golden era, do you think actual hip-hop will inspire artists and people 20 years from now the same way that period is doing now? Why?

I grew up on that sh*t. That and some punk and rock greatness inspires most of my work. I think nowadays there are still some fresh rap goin’ on, but unfortunately the “actual hip-hop” scene is very wack, and i don’t found much inspiration in that. Again, there’s still some good stuff out there, and i think if people will be inspired by that to future art they better get their stereos tuned to that goodness , otherwise we’re doomed to see only square stuff saying “Swag”.

 

 

 

 

- It`s appreciable your wild street tactics same as your love references, are you more a warrior or a romantic soul?

All warriors are born with a heart.

- What kind of actions should unite us in these crazy crisis days when people is looking for themselves to survive?

Yeah, this is now a real Dog eat Dog, or Rat Race world, so you people better turn into dogs or rats, or think outside the box and go cat or fox. The other option, is to turn to arts,it sounds kind of a silly advice, since the arts usually don´t provide that much, but one thing i’ve learned in my experience, is that they really bring people together and make us think of a better world, so if that’s not a good thing to teach your kids, i don´t know what is.