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The innovative style thread


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Originally posted by cabin fever

I know it might be kind of old hat by now...but someone should really post some abuse...

 

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/7296/abuse1.jpg'>

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/7296/abuse2.jpg'>

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/7296/abuse3.jpg'>

 

abuse will never be 'old hat'. dude is one of the most innovative writers to come out of america in the last 20 years.

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for the record, the obey giant campaign started in about 1989, and cost revs began a year or so later. as obey giant began with those stickers i doubt they had any cross-pollenation going on, especially as they were in different cities. later on, maybe. but in any case, the flyers that cost revs were doing were preceded in nyc by tess and no from nyc, who did flyers sometimes in trains that said "mad tess don't fess / dj no x-men crew" this would have been the late 1980's and as far as i know they were the first graffiti writers to use flyers, i could be wrong, older folks please feel free to chime in and correct me if i have it twisted.

 

but in any case, postering is an age-old concept dating back hundreds of years. martin luther made mad noise with it. later on, in the 1980's, the art-feminist group the Guerrilla Girls did it in soho a lot and maybe that was where tess and no got inspired from.

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i first started seeing the andre the giant shit, in detroit, in 1990. there was a local skate shop, and one of the guys was friends with sheppard, so he would send stickers down. i say that only to note that he was already 'branching out' even in the begining.

 

obey and revs/cost are hardly comparable though, and sheppards inclusion as 'graffiti' or not, does not change the simple fact that his popularity now is testement to the exact thing he was trying to do (or atleast claims now); create a 'product' that does not exist. the fact that actual obey products do now exist, is irrelivent, or at least expected. i aint mad at dude.

 

other than that, i would simply like to say that doing something 'different' doesnt necessarily make you 'innovative', being 'innovative' doesnt necesarrily make you 'good' and no matter what you do, or how well you think you do it, there will always be someone jealous enough to say it's complete shit.

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sonik im glad you mentioned the X-men

 

and ive seen that Keo has elaborated on them on this board before. im sure he could explain it better then i since he is a member..

 

but i stole this from 149th st.

 

which should be referenced by anyone who wants to get informed on the goings about "back in the day".

 

The XMEN were one of the most interesting New York City street culture phenomena of the early- '80s. The XMEN started as a graffiti crew and quickly expanded to become a multi-dimensional social and party organization with membership from all over the City. XMEN membership included writers, DJ's, rappers, break dancers, and roller skaters. The XMEN were as renowned for their club-quality parties and hang-outs as they were for bombing trains and neighborhoods. The XMEN were a Brooklyn-based crew founded at Brooklyn Technical High School in 1980 by the president TATU and the vice-president SOE 1. The original members were TATU, SOE 1, RAZE 1, and RES 1. SOE was already an established writer, having hit the J, M, LL, 6 and 7 lines during the 1977-1980 period. Some of SOE's most prolific pre-XMEN bombing was done with DEZ, MACE, FED 1, BEE and WEE of The Crazy Partners-TCP on the 6 line, and with FUZZ 1 on the 1's and 7's in 1979-1980. SOE also wrote under the aliases BIG 279, LINK 2, and SAMPLE. TATU, RAZE, and RES were up-and-coming talent who hit the 2,4,and 5 lines, along with many neighborhoods in South Brooklyn.

 

This mix of backgrounds led to the XMEN developing their own unique style and approach that was a fusion of old-school IRT roots with Brooklyn flourishes and New Wave accents. The XMEN emphasized strong, distinctive hand style, well executed throw-ups and soft letter pieces, along with selective burners. The XMEN also emphasized a strong City-wide street bomb to supplement their transit bomb. Unlike many writers who hit their own neighborhoods, the XMEN not only thoroughly blanketed South Brooklyn, but bombed any neighborhood they passed through, along with strategically hitting many cement "permanent" spots on major subway stations and highly visible public spaces throughout the City.

 

The XMEN were a very tight knit crew and this all-out subway and street bomb effort lead to a lot of confusion among writers and others outside of the XMEN circle since the XMEN appeared to be from everywhere and hardly anybody knew anything about them. Adding to this all-out city-wide subway and street assault were the efforts of newer XMEN members TESS 1 and DJ NO who, along with a strong presence on INDs and BMTs, also attracted the media's attention with their highly successful mixed-media wheat poster and sticker campaign in Manhattan. This was all well before the efforts of Cost and Revs. As the XMEN bombed and partied, they grew in stature, membership, and popularity. XMEN membership now included KEO 1, WEST 1, ANGEL DUSTER (RIP), SEE 1, TORO, BALE, the original SON 1 from the early '70s, and CESAR, among others. XMEN membership was not limited to males and included female writers like LADY 180, PAM 1, and MS 45 among others. The XMEN added INDs and BMTs to their footprint in 1982 and went All-City from 1983-1984. The XMEN were also the last crew to go All-City as defined by having hit every line.

 

When the XMEN bombed INDS and BMTS in the early '80s, they did so in the face of the strongest buff ever. While other writers were trying to beat the buff with throw-ups that were easily removed by the MTA, the XMEN strategically chose to do a highly stylized punishing insides bomb with specially blended inks in custom-made super flooded markers with customized tips that withstood multiple buffing attempts. This ensured that their work would be seen barring the MTA completely re-painting the line. This approach was especially successful on the MTA's fleet of freshly painted white 7 trains. The white 7s were referred to as the "White elephants" and the MTA took strong measures to protect them from being hit. The XMEN were able to get around some of the MTA's security measures and totally demolish insides on the 7s along with doing several pieces-much to the chagrin of the MTA as they had to completely re-paint entire rows of trains. The XMEN quit transit writing in 1986 and many of them went on to successful careers in business, art, and medicine. Currently, KEO is involved with the graffiti gallery scene and has put together several shows, most notably the METALLURGY show of June 1999 which featured artists such as CHAIN 3, KEL 1st, JAMES TOP, PART 1, STAN 153. SOE and others. KEO was also instrumental in coordinating writers and gallery work for the Guernsey's Graffiti Auction of June 2000. To this day, XMEN work from the '80s can still be seen in parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx, and the mystery of "Who are the XMEN ?" still endures.

 

Additional X MEN include: OB, MR. BACARDI, PEM 1, BREEZE aka 2 BAD, DASH, PSYCHO, and RISK

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Originally posted by Sonik3000

for the record, the obey giant campaign started in about 1989, and cost revs began a year or so later. as obey giant began with those stickers i doubt they had any cross-pollenation going on, especially as they were in different cities. later on, maybe. but in any case, the flyers that cost revs were doing were preceded in nyc by tess and no from nyc, who did flyers sometimes in trains that said "mad tess don't fess / dj no x-men crew" this would have been the late 1980's and as far as i know they were the first graffiti writers to use flyers, i could be wrong, older folks please feel free to chime in and correct me if i have it twisted.

 

but in any case, postering is an age-old concept dating back hundreds of years. martin luther made mad noise with it. later on, in the 1980's, the art-feminist group the Guerrilla Girls did it in soho a lot and maybe that was where tess and no got inspired from.

 

TESS and NO preceded the Guerilla Girls by several years.

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if i'm correct that Joker piece is from he late 80's earyl 90s....and that just shows

how amazing that guy is. He has come a long way and set so many more standards

than pretty much any writer in here along with most of the Transcend crew.

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I think the whole "is graffiti art" thing really only happens because people have a fear and misunderstanding of what the word "art" means, I feel that people are scared to call what they do art because they think it means a set way of doing things like "graffiti" "driving" or "smoking crack"

But to me art is about doing whatever u want. No limits no examples to follow just do whatever u want, so I guess the real confusion is everyone’s different perception of what it is.

I wont say anymore but I think we should all ask ourselves what a word means to us and then what it means to other people

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