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The Art of Dzine

The painter spins a hometown mix

Kate Zambreno

 

Dzine bounces around his studio on Milwaukee Avenue, site of the defunct Dreamerz nightclub, giving me the lightning tour. Off to the corner is his recording studio. Here is his painting space, cleared out for a gallery opening that night, bookshelves stacked with art texts, a Basquiat print on the wall, album covers like Greenskeepers and Nuspirit Helsinki that Dzine designed ("no pun intended" he always adds), an old spray-paint work. Proud daddy also shows off his newest collaboration, a painting made with his toddler son, Paolo, who he raises with his longtime girlfriend.

 

Oddities clutter his dusty mantle: a photograph of him as a 13-year-old at Disney World ("that's still me, drinking Jack and slinging guns"), a Michelin Man bought at a flea market in Paris, a painted dinosaur from the son of a collector, and this bizarrely beautiful welded sculpture picked up in Kenya when he was just "nomading it" on an artist's grant in his early twenties. Dzine starts to tell this story. He loves this story. It's a great story, and when he tells it he performs it. He's getting goose bumps already.

 

"I had to haggle with him. And the guy's completely broke, completely oddball eccentric. He was this really weird-looking short Kenyan, paintings rolled up in his arm, always walking really fast. I just started following this guy around, and hanging out with him. But he was cool, man! I was really attracted to him."

 

Dzine, born Carlos Rolon, talks in staccato spurts, cheerfully punctuating sentences with "fuck." He's instantly disarming and charming, flirting with the world around him. Everything's "sexy" or "hot" or "turns him on." That track was fucking hot. Girls with weird eyes turn him on. So does that garishly bright blue car. "I am really attracted to off-the-wall kind of eccentric quirky oddball stuff because I'm the complete opposite." In the three hours we talk, he reveals that he's attracted to Peter Jennings ("He's kind of got this cool James Bond vibe going on.") and the chick from "Alias."

 

So the man takes Dzine back to his studio and shows him the sculpture, the one now sitting on Dzine's mantle, which the eccentric Kenyan artist describes as himself as king looking over a revolving world. But here's the part of the story that really fucks Dzine up. The Kenyan artist shows him a poem that inspired the artwork. Dzine's still got the yellowed piece of paper sitting on his sculpture, and shows it to me. It's "Change the World" by Eric Clapton.

 

Cut to two years later, Eric Clapton, a longtime Dzine collector, is in the artist's studio. And Dzine tells him the story. "And Eric's like, 'Wow, you just made my day.' And I'm like, 'You made this guy's day. This whole thing is like making my fucking year!'" Dzine grins, thrilled to his toes, and you can't help grinning as well. "And that's why I believe that shit happens for a reason. I meet people, and things touch me, and I touch them, for a reason."

 

Maybe he's a little more reflective than usual because it's hours before the opening of his one-man show at the Monique Meloche Gallery. Although the self-trained artist, who still uses his tag name from his graffiti days, now shows and sells out in Tokyo, New York, Paris and Puerto Rico, this is the Brighton Park-bred kid's first solo show in Chicago in two-and-a-half years. Riding the buzz after his collaboration on a wall project with fellow abstract painter Judy Ledgerwood at the Museum of Contemporary Art in September, tonight's opening is a homecoming of sorts. "People are going to go there and they're going to see that I'm for real," he says. The self-described "short Puerto Rican with a Napoleon Complex" knows he has still has something to prove to a Chicago art world that still tags him as a kid with an aerosol can.

 

Newcity profiled Dzine in 1992 for a story about Chicago graffiti art, when he was a twenty-something cracking wise and running with the Aerosoul crew. And although he maintains his ties to the hip-hop community and preserves an underground feel to his work, in the past decade the 32-year-old has matured into a serious painter. He's a father. He's bought a house. He's traveled the world. He owns a studio in Paris. He has wiry silvery strands sprinkling his temples. ("Not sexy," he groans, as he stretches out the curly black mass, reminding himself he needs a haircut before the opening tonight.)

 

His work has also matured, which the Chicago audience will see at the show, an evolution with many growing pains over the past decade. Although there's still street flavor to his paintings, all that's left of his graffiti aesthetic is his use of color and a penchant for working large in his wall pieces. None of the old markings found in his earlier paintings remain. How does it feel to have decade-old remnants of his past visions still around the city? "Graffiti is a repetitive art form. I'm even getting tired of certain types of music. It's getting boring. And I think that's why I've moved on from doing street work. It's such a mind thing. You go there and do this large, huge piece, your name's all over in there, and it's like grabbing your nut-sack and being just like 'Yeah, this is me. That's my name. I want to show the world how big my dick is.' And I honestly just got bored of it. I found it really stagnant, but I still love the underground scene. I love the rawness of it."

 

 

On the record player, a sultry downtempo plays. "I want a painting to look like this sounds," Dzine says dreamily. "Organic, very deep, very luscious. Like I think all these little dots, and I think ripple effects. And I think of covering it up, and doing it again. And covering it up, and doing it again. So you're kind of lost in the painting." Sometimes there are as many as three paintings hidden underneath his abstract experiments in form and color, in design and depth, as much as eleven layers of paint, with secret codes floating inside to be deciphered, studies in subjectivity and memory that the viewer can't always locate. "I love the concept of how a DJ lays a track, beat over beat. It's about layers. And I think I've really come to understand that's what my paintings are about. It's adding the bass, the treble, the beat." Working with layers and beats per minute has increasingly grown more obsessive since Dzine's work has focused himself as a painter who cuts, pastes, and samples like a DJ shuffles sounds.

 

"Beat Junkie/Chop Shop," the title of the upcoming show, uses terms from hip-hop culture and the street, the sampling of rare beats to create a new sound and the piecing together of a newly baptized car from stolen parts, metaphors for the logic of Dzine's work that pirates concepts from both outside of art and from traditional outlets. "I've always felt since I'm self-trained and self-taught, I've stolen ideas from art history, taking ideas here and there and making it my own," says the Columbia College design dropout. "Everything from a little speck from a Peter Hailey painting to a dot from a Damien Hurst to something in a Sigmar Polke drawing. I'm taking these little doodads here and there and reconstructing it and making it my own."

 

Dzine has investigated the synergy between music and painting all of his life, whether improv painting in the JUBA Collective or working in his new recording studio La La Productions, along with partners Lugo Rosado and Bobby Ortiz. He designs album cover art and works on projects like the double album "Bossa Tres...Jazz" along with Yellow Productions, which featured paintings interpreting each track, and has collaborated with everyone from DJ Cam to avant-garde jazz musicians. His father was a salsa musician, his brother introduced him to early House, and he lists DJ Krush from Japan and London-based groups Bugs in the Attic and Zero 7 (a title of one of his new works) as influences along with painter Gerhard Richter and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans.

 

But some of the pieces in his newest body of work take the fusion between sound and sight to an enhanced level, where his large-scale abstract works resemble the digital tracks on a computer screen. "It's completely fucking subliminal," he remarks in describing this development in his work. There are a few such pieces from his "Pearl Necklace" series in his solo show, these sexually ripe white globs spewing over Technicolor vertical stripes visually cued to computer-generated images that lay down a track. His experiments with color theory also mark a transition from his past body of work, "The Red Sessions," where he utilized a damp, lush minimal palette. "There's color. There's like fluorescents. I'm totally flipping it."

 

For the past three years Dzine has also been experimenting with the industrial product Envirotex that's used to coat bar tops, pouring the plastic on his paintings to create a three-dimensional effect that makes the images seem to pop and creates a shift in foreground and background. It was another accident in fate that led him to this seminal evolution in his body of work. He was having a late-night beer at the local bar, depressed about the direction his painting was going. "And I was thinking, I'm either in-it-to-win-it or I'm not. It was really at that point in my career where I was like, you know, you need to think about what you want in life. What you want out of it. And if you're going to do it, then do it for real. And if you're not, then get a job at Home Depot." He was writing his name on the bar, his pen stuck, and this plastic popped up at him.

 

The effect is a sort of mad love laminated. "I want to lick it," I overhear someone say at the opening. Dzine's paintings are beautifully lyrical compositions--bursting ameba-like images and repetitive dots, violent attacks of color and energy. The plastic coating reflects like glass, so you can stare into the painting to see yourself, then stare further to see the hidden layers.

 

When Dzine made the decision in his early twenties to pursue traditional painting and break away from the street art scene, he had to battle the loss of street credibility. He was getting commissions to paint amusement-park rides and backdrops for MTV award shows, flying around the world, ordering ten-dollar strawberries at the Four Seasons. And his first-generation-immigrant mother didn't understand yet why he just didn't take business courses and get a real job. At the time he realized that "I can keep doing commercial stuff like this and have fun, or I can really dig deep inside my soul and try to be an artist." And then there was a new battle. "Then, it was like, are people going to take me seriously in the fine-art world?"

 

Although the stigma of an outsider artist not academically trained is fading due to Dzine's commercial and critical success, he admits that "there are still some who have their doubts. But that just makes me work harder." Since that time there have always been those who believed in his potential and have followed his career, from loyal collectors to Lynn Warren at the Museum of Contemporary Art, who included him in the 1997 catalog of "Art in Chicago."

 

"I've been called a sell-out, I've been called so many fucking things," says Dzine. "It's because I'm always experimenting. People are like, 'Oh, well, you know, he might be a one-trick pony.' It's like, no, I'm pushing myself. I always want to push myself..." His last two shows in Chicago sold out, a rare local feat, and in Tokyo he sold all of his paintings to one collector before his show even opened. Three of the nine paintings in this current exhibition have been sold before the opening. "And that's why for me I was always like 'Fuck Chicago,'" says Dzine, who since signing up with Monique Meloche three years ago has chosen to be centered in Chicago. "I love it, I'm going to live here, I'm going to stay here, but I can make a living somewhere else. Paris, I've always gotten love..."

 

"And now the buzz is that I've been showing in Japan, I've been showing in Europe," he continues. "People come up to me and they're like, yo, how are you getting shows overseas? And it's like, buy a fucking ticket, get on a plane, go out there and introduce yourself, and make something happen."

 

 

 

For a change at a Dzine show, there's no DJ at the opening--no distraction from the paintings. However, a sound is filtering through the crowd that hasn't seen a collective body of his work in over two years, musical murmurs that resemble electrons bouncing. I bump into Dzine, who's wearing a colorful collared shirt exposed to show a necklace that reads Paolo with a little purple jewel attached. "So my son's here with me," he grins, appearing relaxed that what he called his "big coming out" is going well and pleased that I liked the show, but he quickly gets pulled away.

 

To watch Dzine work a room is to watch a man in motion, a charismatic magnet feeding off the buzz of others around him. From over the balcony of the gallery you can follow him as he bounces like a dot on one of his paintings through the labyrinth of friends, collectors, well-wishers. He is working the crowd--taking pictures, joking, interacting, playing, connecting. One thing's for sure--Chicago's giving Dzine love tonight.

 

(2002-10-30)

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SH: Who or what inspired you to go incognito and use public property as your canvas?

 

C: My first inspirations to get into graffitti art took place when

 

 

I was about 14 years old after I saw Charlie Ahearn's "Wild Style" movie, although I didn't quite get it. It was 1985 when I started painting things like Rolling Stone tongues on Converse All Stars, and signing them with these beginner scribble-scrabble type versions of my real name, "James" (although I was Jimmy back then). I met this kid in my freshmen year named "Mane One" and he's the guy who introduced me to getting my name up on buses and trains. I always had noticed prolific taggers' scrawls before, but that was when I realized it was kind of a competitive kinda thing, and I got pumped to get into it since I felt like an artist anyway. I sucked at sports, and all the goofs I grew up with in my neighborhood were into bad shit back then, so it was just a perfect teenage release to me. I didn't want to hurt anyone, I just wanted everybody to see me up so I could be recognized. You can honestly say all graffiti writers have some sort of attention complex, or else why would they do it in the first place?

 

SH: "Casper" - is it obvious, or does it mean something else?

 

C: My first name was "Rice." I liked the letters, I liked the way it looked when I wrote that name. I did good Rs. Then I changed to "Caper." Another name with Rs, Cs and Es - letters I liked to write. Then a comrade of mine started writing, "Speed," he used to use the Speedy Gonzalez character in his pieces, and I felt that if I wrote "Casper," I could have a character to use too. It's funny, because I never used it. I just fell in love with the way I wrote the name. Alot of people ask me if I wrote "Casper" cuz I was a white kid growing up in a black neighborhood. It makes sense, but I just think it's a great name. There were more "Caspers" than the ghost. Check your history books, I swear.

 

SH: Explain how the change came about - graffiti to public art murals?

 

C: I've often been asked what made the change in me to stop focusing on graffiti and to focus on my recent art. Two words - "growing up." Most of my early sprayed work I did for free, on my own time. Having a son, a fiance with a son, and a dream to hit it big with my painting, any changes in my attitude toward graffiti were natural - evolutionary.

 

SH: Mural artists are often characterized as being community minded activists prone to keeping their work local. Do you agree?

 

C: You see things in mainstream advertising all of the time now that are graffiti writer concepts. These are the guys creating your Sprite commercials, directing your favorite movies and videos. They build charitable foundations such as the work of Danny Hoch and Upski Wimsatt with the Active Element Foundation in NY which builds funds for artistic aesthetic education for our children. Writers are selling their paintings to millionaire collectors that donate to museums. They have seeped into every fabric of our culture.

 

SH: Has the graffiti community supported your move towards open displays of public art works?

 

C: This art isn't just about the medium, it's about the performance - the times and places and the risks of this elaborately painted performance. Some "purists" may not approve of dealing with the corporate side of society, and they are entitled to hold those views. I look at it as more of a takeover of Corporate America. All of these little steps may just add up to a Hip Hop President in the future, who knows? I still do an occasional wall here and there for recreation, and to let the younger cats know I'm still sticking up for what their doing. I still keep in touch with some of the up-and-coming writers, and they always give me that raw positive energy that I love in motivated writers.

 

SH: What inspired your murals of the Chicago White Sox?

 

C: I'm working on the second and final phase of the mural installation celebrating100 years of White Sox baseball to be displayed this season in Comiskey Park. I got the job because I convinced the Sox I could do it better than anybody because I really love baseball, especially the Sox. I'm kind of living out my wannabe-baseball-player dreams through the work, so I'm having a blast, plus I get to go to a whole lot more games this way. I just hope I get to add a World Series panel to the end of it soon! The Sox are going to use one of my panels to make a promotional poster for opening day, celebrating their hundredth birthday, so I'm freaking out trying to make sure it's perfect. But it's the kind of stress I can live with.

 

SH: How big is this project exactly? How long will it take?

 

C: There are 33 panels in all, and if you put them together end to end the mural is 38' x 256' long.

 

SH: You're working with Urban Gateways now - tell me about what that's like.

 

C: I've just started teaching with Urban Gateways, and it's very exciting. I remember my art teachers when I was a kid and I know they made a big impact on my life, so it's pretty cool to be in a situation where I could be on the other side. The kids love the old pieces I show them, but my main concentration is to get them to look closer at the things they draw, to notice the little things they always missed, so hopefully that skill may rub off into other aspects of their life as they mature. I will be teaching four residencies January through April at various grammar schools in Little Village, Bridgeport and Engelwood neighborhoods, so I'm about to get very busy.

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Heard Befo

 

CTA ADOPTS TOUGH STANCE TOWARD VANDALS

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1/20/03

A Chicago man will spend three years in prison for vandalizing Chicago Transit Authority property. Carlos Sanchez pled guilty to charges of felony criminal damage to property and damage to state-supported property on January 16, 2003. His plea comes as the CTA strengthens its crackdown on vandals.

 

On October 30, 2002 Chicago Police conducting surveillance along the Orange Line caught the 18-year-old Sanchez and a juvenile vandalizing six panes of glass on a CTA rail platform at 3528 South Leavitt at the 35th/Archer Station. The defendant admitted to police that he used etching cream to etch “MC” into the glass.

 

Damage in excess of $300 qualifies as a felony offense in Illinois. According to the CTA’s law department this incident is the first time someone has been charged with a felony for acid etching on its property.

 

Following his arrest Sanchez also was found to be in violation of his probation for a prior drug conviction.

 

“The CTA is serious about maintaining a clean and safe environment for customers,” said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Valerie B. Jarrett. “We spend approximately $4.45 million annually to clean up graffiti and replace etched glass on our vehicles and facilities, we would rather see these funds used to maintain and upgrade the system.”

 

“Persons caught in the commission of illegal activities will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said CTA President Frank Kruesi. “As we work to manage our budget, absorbing the cost of repairing damaged property is not the way we want to spend our money.”

 

Additionally, the CTA filed a civil lawsuit against Sanchez on January 2, 2003. The agency is seeking $1,700 as repayment for the cost of repairing the damage.

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CTA RAIL RADIO COMMUNICATION

Radio communication involving CTA rapid transit trains is handled using the following frequencies:

470.987 Emergency

471.037 Blue Line

471.062 Green, Orange Lines

471.087 Brown, Purple, Yellow Lines

471.112 Red Line

 

 

 

CTA RAIL RUN NUMBERS

CTA's "Run Numbers" are motormen's shift numbers, and are grouped by line and terminals as follows:

000's - Green Line - Harlem/Lake

100's - Blue Line - O'Hare

200's - Blue Line - Forest Park

300's - Blue Line - 54th/Cermak

400's - Brown Line - Kimball

500's - Purple Line - Howard

590's - Yellow Line - Howard

600's - Green Line - Ashland/63rd

700's - Orange Line - Midway

800's - Red Line - Howard

900's - Red Line - 95th/Dan Ryan

 

Run Numbers are displayed using indicators at the front of the train, and now are periodically announced to passengers on trains. Trains are also identified by Run Number in radio communications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CTA RADIO "TEN" CODES

For radio communication, CTA uses some of the traditional police "ten" codes, and has many "ten" codes of its own.

10-1 Receiving poorly

10-2 Receiving well

10-3 Stop transmitting

10-4 Message received and understood

10-7 Unit out of service

10-8 Unit in service

10-10 Police needs assistance

10-20 What is your location?

10-21 Call by telephone

10-25 Dirty vehicle

10-31 ATC bypass operation authorized

10-32 Stem bypass operation authorized

10-33 PCR bypass operation authorized

10-40 Radio check

10-41 Unauthorized switch

10-42 Abandoned bus

10-49 Check farebox

10-50 Make special service check

10-51 Go to location and assist as appropriate

10-52 Manpower shortage, runs held in (buses)

10-53 Use appropriate service restoration technique

10-55 Inspect all viaducts in district, check sewer covers

10-56 Bus equipment shortage, runs held in

10-57 Rail car shortage

10-58 Trip annulled (rail)

10-59 Salt over/underpasses, bridge approaches, etc.

10-60 Check employee

10-61 Employee injured

10-62 Employee sick

10-63 Other person sick or injured

10-65 Switch to alternate channel

10-68 Repeat message

10-71 Collision of CTA vehicle with fixed object

10-72 Collision of CTA vehicle with a person

10-73 Collision of CTA vehicle and other vehicle

10-74 Collision of CTA vehicles

10-75 Derailment

10-77 Have crew make announcement

10-80 Fire

10-82 Police assistance required

10-83 Throwing at bus or train

10-84 Assist with fare dispute

10-86 Disturbance in progress

10-87 If train is standing in station, remain standing

10-87 Train between stations stop outside next station

10-88 Alarm: bus, train or station

10-90 Bomb threat

10-91 Weapon threat

10-99 Dire emergency, stop all other radio transmissions

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http://members.aol.com/chictafan/p2600.jpg'>

 

CTA RAPID TRANSIT TERMINALS

The CTA's main rail shops are presently in Skokie at 3701 W. Oakton St., along the Yellow Line. The shops were built by the Chicago Rapid Transit Co. in 1927, consolidating functions previously performed at the shops of the four separate elevated railroad companies. The Shokie Shops are presently being rehabbed. The Yellow Line overhead electrification begins west of the shops, enabling all equipment to access the shops via third rail power. Routine maintenance is performed at the terminals at the ends of each line.

LINDEN AVE.

Purple Line

Opened in 1912

Yard Capacity: 76 cars

 

HOWARD ST.

Red/Purple/Yellow Line

Opened in 1993

Yard Capacity: 282 cars

 

98TH ST. (DAN RYAN)

Red Line

Opened in 1969/rehabbed 1993

Yard Capacity: 234 cars

 

ROSEMONT

Blue Line

Opened in 1983

Yard Capacity: 144 cars

 

DES PLAINES AVE. (FOREST PARK)

Blue Line

Opened in 1958/rehabbed 1964

Yard Capacity: 122 cars

 

54TH AVE.

Blue Line

Opened in 1958/rehabbed 1975

Yard Capacity: 100 cars

 

HARLEM AVE.

Green Line

Opened in 1962

Yard Capacity: 132 cars

 

RACINE AVE. (63RD ST.)

Green Line

Opened in 1907/rehabbed early 1970's

Yard Capacity: 220 cars

 

61ST ST.

Green Line

Opened in 1892/rehabbed 1993

Not used as yard

 

KIMBALL AVE.

Brown Line

Opened in 1907/rehabbed 1993

Yard Capacity: 136 cars

 

MIDWAY

Orange Line

Opened in 1993

 

http://www.transitalk.org/Photos/TLogan/112502/CTA_Stlouis_6000a.jpg'>

 

http://www.transitalk.org/Photos/TLogan/112502/CTA_Morrison-Knudsen_3254a.jpg'>

 

http://www.transitalk.org/Photos/TLogan/112502/CTA_Budd_2235.jpg'>

 

http://www.transitalk.org/Photos/TLogan/112502/CTA_Boeing_2513a.jpg'>

 

http://www.transitalk.org/Photos/TLogan/112502/CTA_Flxible_8715.jpg'>

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For the record, what do you write, and what crews are you down with?

 

I write EMPOWER and i'm a battalion of one. I'm presently crewless for a variety of reasons. i got nothing but hate for politics, so i just try to handle my business and steer clear of the drama. Also, I'm a bit of a drifter and I don't have much in the way of social skills so i've never really had a core of people that i've fallen in with. i think a lot of kids start crews or join up just so they got something else to write next to their pieces. That's twisted, why rep something that you're not willing to back up 100%? That's not really what i'm all about so...if something right comes along, i'll push it; but this is how it is for now.

 

Roughly how much of your work is done on fr8s?

 

i'd say about 40%, i'd say another 30% is rooftops and line bombing. 10% chill spots or permission walls for a change of pace...and the other 20% is secret.

 

I know that chicago graff scene started very early on, with a subway scene exisisting in the 80s before most cities even had an actual scene. Do you feel that, that history has had an impact on your development as a writer, or your style?

 

i'm actually a chicago transplant, so i didn't get to witness a lot of the history that went on pre buff (1996) I'd say the rooftop scene and setup of the city influenced my style more than any particular writer (although i dig agent's stuff a lot). You only see pieces on the line for a couple seconds so you gotta make sure everything you want to communicate can be noticed in those couple seconds. That's why my color schemes are generally pretty contrasty and a lot of pieces are simple. That's also where i picked up doing straight letters. it's all about communicating your message effectively. i think that's a good mindset to have for freights. i see a lot of kids doing these teched out pieces that look good in flix but you see em rolling and it's like "what the hell was that?" There's a time and place for those styles and sometimes i just feel like burning the fuck out of the train so i get wild but... Personally, i like most of my train pieces to be stripped down.

 

Are you very involved in the chicago scene, or do you try and do your own thing and avoid the politics of a local scene?

 

i just handle my business. Chicago is an awesome city and i miss it every day. As far as graffiti goes, there always seems to be a lot of beef, which is preposterous because the lines get buffed so much there shouldn't be any competition over space. It seems that crew beef is the only reason people really get motivated to wreck the city. Politics don't seem to make it into the freight yards. People aren't as into freights out there. Chicago has always been an isolated city. Very few writers could care less about what goes on outside of the city.

 

Some people have labeled your style as "abstract", do you feel your work is abstract (do you even agree with the label), and do you think its a natural progression of your style, or a big departure?

 

uhhh...i don't think people are talking about me long enough to be labeling my style. . I've been doing some pretty wacky stuff lately but if you follow my style for the past couple of years it all makes sense. The letters are all there. I try to do something new every time out and sometimes it works out and well...sometimes it doesn't. As far as abstract goes, i don't see it like that. I always try to make my pieces look like something. For a long time I was trying to make my name look like a landscape (it worked well on trains), then i was on this stained glass style for a while, lately my pieces have been looking kinda spidery. Every new style I do is just another ingredient to drop in to the EMPO "style cuisenart" for when i really want to get nasty. I got a couple new styles in the lab that are waiting to be unleashed upon creation. Lock your doors.

 

Chicago is widely accepted as the railroad capital of america, how does that work out for writers? Is it paradise or do the railroads have things locked up tight security wise?

 

There's a lot of yards. You just have to do the research as to which ones are cool to paint. Some of the yards havea lot of security but it's mainly because of thievery. And a lot of yards are in straight up gang land. You can get over pretty consistently if you're smart. But then again, it's a big city and anything can happen at any time. This past summer some dude pulled a shotgun on Wyse when we were painting at my favorite spot and i've been hearing from friends that rail police are catching on at certain yards. You just gotta keep on moving.

 

Whats your favorite type of car to paint?

 

Transit

 

I heard you recently made the pilgramige to mecca and painted with a few ny/nj cats, what was that like?

 

It was the first time I'd ever been to new york so i wasn't really sure what to expect. I'm a big transit nerd so i spent a lot of time just exploring the MTA. I would just wake up in the morning and ride the lines and at night i would scope yards. It was a blast. I met some real cool kids out in jersey that hooked me up with some freight action so that was good. It was sick, i had a lot of fun out there. It's like a whole different world than New York. They have their own scene with a lot of super talented writers just crushing shit. I was very impressed.

 

Where do you see the freight scene going over the next few years?

 

To hell in a handbasket. There are just too many kids painting too many freights. For now, freights are still relatively easy in most areas and writers (and toys) are taking advantage of it. Trains are plentiful and you just have to crush SO much to get noticed so kids are just destroying whole lines of good cars. Unfortunately, the quality is suffering. For now there's enough trains but...for how long.

 

Where do you see your involvement in the freight scene going?

 

better, bigger, more. I have a feeling i'm gonna be around for a minute but you never know. i could get run over tomorrow.

 

 

Any good chase stories?

yeah, i got a lot of em. unfortunately i'm a horrible story teller. i'll just give you the important details. if you want a more complete story you can ask Ali. He works for the MTA at the "-" yard in the Bronx.

 

-too good to be true setup.

-SPOTTED!

-trapped in a scrapcar.

-running

-falling

-climbing

-2 14 foot razor wired fences with a moat of razor wire.

-falling

-grabbing

-tearing

-bleeding

-bleeding

-mayhem

-chasing

-attempted climbing

-falling

-running

-bleeding

-one handed climbing

-track running

-bleeding

-hiding

-3 hours later I got to the hospital and caught about 40+ stitches in my hand along with another 10-15 covering the rest of my body. I had completely torn my hand open when i grabbed on the razor wire after falling into the moat between the two fences. i got flicks. it's nasty.

-scarring

-healing

-healing

it all turned out ok though. gave 'em a couple subway series joints a couple days later. it's kinda hard to paint with one hand but i still managed to come off.

 

Any final comments/shout outs?

 

yeah. i don't really deserve this interview. There are hundreds of kids out there painting WAY more freight than me, my hat goes off to you. You all have way more dedication than me. Keep on keepin on. Hopefully one day i'll be able to measure up. Special credit goes to: ELK, EXPERT, WYSE, CRAE, TEMPER, KYM, XIDE, KLAS, JUNE, SONIK, JAR2, POSE, CON, JASE....and everyone else who's helped me out along the way. Thanks to everyone who's put up with me being stupid and annoying (i'm sorry), everyone i've stolen from or been inspired by, everyone who's given me another chance when i don't deserve one and anyone who cares enough to stand up for me. The fire that burns, cleanses.

jack of all trades, master of none: EMPOWER ONE

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quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by erie1cmw

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

02-13-2003 04:59 PM

 

 

erie1cmw

Rookie

 

Registered: Jul 2002

Location: chi illa

Posts: 54

 

 

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by erie1cmw

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GET THE FUCKIN POINTGET THE FUCKIN POINT

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

02-13-2003 05:08 PM

 

 

el lies

Rookie

 

Registered: Oct 2002

Location: Chi

Posts: 31

 

that dude is gonna get smashed by cmw when he gets caught,,,,

 

 

 

02-13-2003 07:01 PM

 

 

erie1cmw

Rookie

 

Registered: Jul 2002

Location: chi illa

Posts: 54

 

 

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by el lies

that dude is gonna get smashed by cmw when he gets caught,,,,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by erie1cmw

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

02-13-2003 04:58 PM

 

 

erie1cmw

Rookie

 

Registered: Jul 2002

Location: chi illa

Posts: 53

 

 

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by erie1cmw

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

 

 

quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Originally posted by erie1cmw

ATTN LILE ASS HATER.......

 

THE ONLY THING GETTIN BUSTED UP WILL BE YOU FAGGOT.....

IM SURE YOUR JUST PLAYIN AROUND BUT KEEP TALKIN SHIT TO CMW MUTHA FUCKAS AND YOLL END UP FLOATIN IN DA RIVA...PLAYA

MISTA OJDEA

CAN YOU TELL ME

LILL ASS HATER DIED OF MURDA....

 

 

MO MURDA

MO MURDA

MO MURDA......MO MURDA MURDA.............

 

 

__________________

ERIE ONE

CHIZ MOST WANTED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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