Askew SUK

Clean Or Dirty The Most Defs - Jaes & Askew. Detroit 2009

^ I have a lot of stuff but unable to upload it just yet.. will try get it all sorted when my work schedule dies down a bit..

Great thread! Nice to see the scale of what's been done over the years like this.. dope.

Was just thinking about that Netch timeline that Berst put up and there was actually an earlier one that needs to be included. It was this collaboration between Misery, Deus and myself for the Watch This Space show at Qubic in 2007. here's one of the process shots I could find on the net. Have to find my better shots..

^That wall was 3 weekends and random painting during the 2 weeks between. We have been working on another one for nearly 4 months!

I've been thinking of looking back through some of my photos and tracing that exact evolution. I think some of the ISM's started even earlier with my 3D pieces though. Just started trying to reinterpret them with how we paint today. A lot of back and forth between Berst and I and things started to change a lot more rapidly.. will put something together later.

[quote=sneak; Quote: Originally Posted by Baron Von Counterculture (View Original Post) off topic but bump Mean PFB... what this man said. YUP!! That dude showed us A LOT!

It would be easy to take the bait and respond defensively to some of what has been said but as bombingthestreetse said, TMD are people generally able to accept valid criticism and debate. Let's keep this discussion on a mature path and generate some kind of outcome other than taking swipes from behind screens. In this situation, we are taking 'risks' with our work in regards to sacrificing certain rigid aesthetic ideals, some of which many of us really adhere to ourselves. The underlying beauty of these 'Netch' walls is the premise itself. It's about collaboration. It is as mentioned before about raising the the bar on as many levels as we can but ultimately it is really about the collaborations and discussion through the process of each walls creation. Collaboration has been a consistent theme with me as an artist from pretty much the get go. From the first time I actually met other writers, I really got off on discussing ideas, techniques and also being prepared to hear criticism and try ideas suggested or shown to me. None the less though, very few productions are true collaborations to the extent of what we have been doing in the past few months. To detach yourself from your own piece once the first outline is up and spend so long working over the entire wall, bringing as much detail and as many ideas as you can possibly muster is a grueling, humbling and also enlightening process. It is something that I am so grateful to have experienced with such a fantastic cross-section of artists from my city. It does need to be noted again though, that letters are a major focus for all of us (Just look at our indivdual works) so finding a balance between maintaining integrity there yet handling the wall in such an intensely illustrative way is far from a perfected process for us. As far as the source of our ideas, it was mentioned earlier that this just looked like an excuse for us to use as many of the cool effects from other people's styles in our pieces. That cracked me up a bit because that suggested that we were incapable of coming up with ideas ourselves or trying things out as painters by own on method of trial and error and coming to our own graphic conclusions. It may be surprising to people that we actually look beyond graffiti for inspiration, we even look beyond art. Personally I look a lot at nature. The recent pieces I have been doing and several sections of my netch contributions are inspired by the refracted effect in crystals and illogical way colour occurs in natural formations. Another thing that has spawned a lot of Auckland style 'ISM's' is the movement towards pure gestural line in our work, often painted with the Astro cap. This is something that started in my 'traditional' and simple work but it may not be visible in net resolution photos. I have outline with an astro or level 5 cap for the past couple of years and leave the hollow tube effect, flared out sections, drips etc. The idea was to never contrive or build up a line like a lot of people do and to trust the first instinct rather than over perfect the work. The new tendency towards having ultra detailed sections in our work is merely a response to the flared out messy and gestural sections, to offer contrast and create a graphic hierarchy. To make the paintings more complete and well-rounded. After the Ironlak wall on the goldcoast. spending time with Sofles, Seiko and Vans, I had more of an appetite for pedantic line work. Berst was also feeling inspired to take things further. Netch has basically enabled us to bring ideas to the table, share them with a group of artists and watch them develop at an exponential rate beynd what was achievable with a traditional writers mindset. You can call that losing the point, being artsy or what ever. I personally don't care. The positives have outweighed the negatives in my opinion.

^In a nutshell.. Thankyou. Much too stressed today to have clarified that as well as you just did.

man, that's a whole lot of half knowledge. With all respect to you guys, unless you're privy to the inner workings of things here and how certain stylistic traits have developed, you are only speaking speculatively and likely based on what you've seen on the net. Perception is beyond anyone's control though so make of it what you will.

^I shouldn't take exception to that comment, but I think it's funny that you see us all as copying Berst and can't identify the general dialogue between Auckland's key writers and how that is changing the way we paint as a City and perhaps nation. Berst is all of these things: A true talent, hard worker, deep thinker and is definitely establishing himself as a formidable force locally and abroad. To discount his peers and influences is short-sighted though. No offense meant, just needs to be said.

This one got overlooked I think.. Netch round2: Askew, Stray, Berst.

Vans the Omega is TMD

^ Just to see Sofles and Berst paint together in general would be exciting I reckon. They are both Lil' beasts!!

^Definitely mad cold in the D! 0 degrees with the wind, that's like -17 celsius!

^ Shot dude!!

The man!

TMD in Melbourne Saves Diva Ryze

Oh shit! That just made me laugh hard out! dope bro!

I love how NZ isn't even on there! In NYC I met a few cats that thought New Zealand was in Europe.

^People are going to speculate over that for sure! haha

^I'm just going through a bored stage dude. I feel like upping the anti in every way I can. It's all cyclic anyway, next week I might decide I only feel like doing tags, or two colour pieces again. It's just about being honest to what I feel rather than fitting a perception or an expectation. As Doze Green said, "It's about destroying and rebuilding."

Bit like the cern particle accelerator that keeps failing to work. They might have the theory wrong... This might be the answer haha!