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Ici Montréal


Edika

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Q. : When did you start doing graf?

 

A. : I started around 83-84. I was into Break Dancing at the time and I started tagging in the West Island. My name then was Checker-T. I remember seeing the movie Beat Street. That influenced me a lot back then.

 

Q. : What was your first piece ever?

 

A. : I've done it at night in a tunnel underpass in Pierrefonds [Montreal suburb]. It's kind of funny, not scary. For a first piece, it's not bad.

 

Q. : What does one expresses when doing a piece? Is there a message?

 

A. : No. Some put messages up. But if someone else doesn't agree with the message, he could go with a can of paint and mess up everything. That's why I try not to put any views. I could put "Stop Racism", and some nazi could come along and mess up in seconds what took me hours to paint.

 

Q. : Is there an emotion: anger or happiness?

 

A. : I heard one art critic say one color expresses anger and another... But I don't know about that.

I did a piece where there is a guy sacrificing a spray can. It must have something to do with... When doing graffiti, you have to make sacrifices: you don't get recognition: Pablo Picasso, at least, you see his real name on his work.

So I don't really express much, really. Fun. That's basically what graffiti is for me.

 

Q. : Do you want to do it all your life?

 

A. : You can't really make money out of graffiti. A couple of people make good money, but these people are few and far between.

 

Q. : Are u up for business?

 

A. : I'm not like Timer, for instantce. He's an artist, I'm not. I did one thing for a video that plays a lot on MuchMusic, however. They paid me 300$ to paint a backdrop for that video. There's also an american TV show called Sirens which paid me 350$ to do a piece on plywood.

 

Q. : Are you studying?

 

A. : Right now, I don't have any goals.

 

Q. : Do you see graf developing in Montreal?

 

A. : Graffiti is in its infant stages here compared to other cities. The culture here is different than Toronto or New York. In Australia, its very big also. Basically, there is graffiti everywhere, except in former Soviet Union and in Asia. Germany right now is the best place for graffiti: Berlin is the most bombed city in the world!

But here, last summer was bigger than the year before. So we'll see this year. Probably it is gonna get bigger here, because I'm gonna do a magazine, so it'll get more exposure. I don't want to see more tags or throw ups, I wanna see people doing nice pieces. So hopefully, my magazine is going to influence people to work harder, doing nicer stuff. I have some pages set up already.

 

Q. : How did you come up with your name, Flow?

 

A. : Flow is good, smooth going. In hip-hop, you hear this word a lot. It refers to their lyrical style: that's my flow, that's what they say.

But originally, I like wolves a lot. And wolf would be tacky. So Flow is wolf backwards!

 

Q. : You were telling me you once got arrested?

 

A. : In June 94, my freind from France and I were on St.Catherine street in front of Place-des-Arts. It was during the FrancoFolies [French music festival] and there was a temporary t-shirt booth. We started to tag it with a marker and didn't realize there was security for watching equipment so they caught us.

We didn't resist. I didn't think anyting would happen. But we stayed at station 33 for 20 hours in a holding cell. And then, they transferred us to Bonsecours. We had to wait another 19 hours there to pass in front of a judge. In the end, we were released without sentence.

 

Q. : Graf doesn't last. Why do you do it?

 

A. : I don't know. To have a picture of you is worth the fame.

That's why I don't do trains, 'cause they're going to get cleaned right away. I've seen a freight train up here from a guy who's in a magazine from NY. It was cool.

The subways are finished in NY now. If you carry a marker in the subway, you could be arrested! The people who bomb the trains do it in stations, otherwise, as soon as a worker sees a graffiti, the train is pulled away and cleaned.

Here, I've done freight trains. But not passenger trains. I don't want to touch passenger trains, 'cause that might be a little touchy.

We can't hit metros [Montreal's subway's name] here cause they are all parked underground.

 

Q. : Were's is the biggest thrill? Actually doing the piece, or taking your picture afterwards?

 

A. : They're both equal. But the other day, I say one of my stickers in the metro.

Stickers are another thing of graffiti. Most people just tag a sticker and post them.

 

Q. : What's the name of your crew?

 

A. : SAT, for Smashing All Toys.

A toy is somebody who does bad graffiti or just tags.

 

Q. : Are there things you respect?

 

A. : Churches. Historical buildings in Old Montreal. Personal cars. I wouldn't do a police station. I also respect public art. And other graffitist's works.

When you cross over someone else's work, that's a sign of war.

 

Q. : Finally, do you ever take a vacation?

 

A. : All my vacations are based on graffiti. I go to England, in London, to Toronto, to NY, etc.

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