Street Knowledge

The images, sounds and flavours of the street have always been paramount to me. Ever since the age of eleven when I left the safety of a laid-back hippy-bippy Rudolf Steiner school and signed on at the local comp, I’ve been down with all things street. Okay so I had to deal with my first real taste of culture shock, but once I got to grips with the law of the jungle (or is that the law of the tumble?) and learned how to keep my head down at the same time as holding it high, it was a real eye-opener. I was hook, lined and sinkered. Soon, I became a Casual: Farrah slacks, Patrick trainers and Lacoste shirts were what went down, with my girlfriend (when I could get one) wearing ski-pants and an Ellesse jumper. I spent my time and money at the Haven Hotel Junior Disco each Sunday evening getting down to ‘Dr Beat’ and ‘White Lines’ (the Grandmaster Flash song - the drugs came later) and then I discovered Philip Salon’s Mud Club in Charing Cross Road and the world was my lobster. I’d get a train into town every Friday and queue up with the rest of the kids, but I soon got to know Philip and my eyes were truly opened to the club world. The music went from pop to go-go to hip hop and then to Balearic beats, and it wasn’t long before I went to the legendary Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and became one of the resident artists at the Brain Club, the most happening, creative club in London at the end of the eighties.

I am an urbanist. Okay, so I’m from the green suburbs of London but that is just the point. It’s not about where you are from it’s about what you are in to. They call it ‘crate-digging’ (a reference to record buyers going through crates of vinyl), as we are all about what we choose to take from the many influences and references that circle in the cultural ether like a 747 in the stack above LHR. And it’s about what we choose to adopt as our own, to appropriate, just like the rise of the art of sampling (other people’s records). Some people said that it wasn’t music, but to me it was something that changed my life. DJ Shadow, DJ Cam, The KLF. Say no more. Most probably the same fuckers who said the Hip Hop was just a craze, that it would pass.

We are well into the twenty-first century and we’re all down with the latest in everything. Nothing is hidden, everything is instantly accessible. Urban street culture has influenced everything you can touch, see, smell, watch, buy, wear, listen to, download, upload, TIVO, record and burn. The concept of this book is to document the influences on urban culture over the last 30 years and chart its progression from its origins to where it is today; to pay respect and give the biggest props to those people, places, social situations, music, films and images that have made a difference and helped shape the ever-changing look and feel of the movement. And to look to where it is going.

What is street culture? It is an unconscious creative collective (in the fields of art, food, music, fashion etc) that is borne from the streets of the urban environment. It has its own visual language: a multi-ethnic, multi-disciplined, multi-media, stream of consciousness that has a unique look and feel which cannot be faked. The audio/visual is god in street knowledge. As is frequently suggested, sound and image is (almost) everything, and it is an integral part of its DNA. This visual language is an ever-changing montage of retro and futuristic images. The cyclic nature of the culture means that looking back is just as important as looking forward. But to see the future you’ve got to know the past.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

To create this book I used a Canon G10 Camera, a 24-inch iMac, a Sony HC9-HDV camcorder, a notebook and a pen. I flew around the world thrice times and had the I honour of getting down with many of my heroes and a lot of seriously talented and seriously generous human beings. The reason why I’m telling you this shit is that part of my M.O. is that knowledge should be shared and not hidden. There is no secret to what I do: I’ve just worked hard for years to get to this point. Okay, so you need to be able to write and have respect for your gut feelings when you see something good, and to be interested in street culture and the world and people around you. Like the man said, you have to work hard and be nice to people.

HOT SPOTS

One of the philosophies I want to spread with this book is to turn people on to new and unknown experiences, so at the end of each city entry there is a ‘Hot Spots’ list and at the back of the book you’ll find a list of reference points, further reading or viewings to use as a starting point when planning your own adventure, on or off line. Once you’re out there you will find out that these lists are just the tip of the iceberg and the real adventure is totally one of your own creation. This is the best kind of voyage: one you and no one else owns.

Please remember that this book is just my personal view of the world of street life and obviously I can’t write about everyone who has ever had an effect on the culture, so there are going to be some people, events and happenings that I’ve not covered. I’ve tried to document the epic journey I have taken in the last 25 years of my life to present the past, present and future of street culture, looking at street art, music, fashion, film, design, the media, photography, craft, retail, street food, spots to hang out in the coolest cities, websites, events, subcultures and movements etc.

All massive hear me now! Hold tight!

Peace+Love

A1ONE (#ulink_169395cd-564c-539a-98ca-f0ff036731dd)

www.kolahstudio.com (http://www.kolahstudio.com)

When it comes to Iran, there’s only one real street artist who is worth mentioning at the moment and that is Alone. He has been holding it down for many years on his own with no community support and is the most hardworking and dedicated street artist in Iran. In the west we know nothing about oppression and have been getting up (the process of putting up illegal art in the street) for as long as Alone has been living under an oppressive, watchful regime, something truly remarkable indeed. People disappear for much less and in 2007 Alone staged the first-ever stencil art exhibition in Tehran. Which says a lot about how he operates — the fact that he was the only person to stick his neck out and put on an exhibition dedicated to an outlawed art form. I have been friends with Alone for some years now and have seen him develop an original style: he started out just using stencils and now has allowed his work to be influenced by folk art and contemporary painting. I asked him who his influences are.

‘My work has been influenced by Van Gogh, Francis Bacon, Nietzsche, music, Blek le Rat, Logan Hicks, Jeff Soto…’

It is when I ask about his goals that I begin to underderstand about life in Iran.

‘Goals? Me? I really enjoy painting and finding more things from the act of painting and forgetting my urban self. To live and feel that I am ALIVE. In my social life I am trying to learn what I need and give what I have when I’m painting. I have many goals for my future and life but when I am at the desk I feel like I have no goals.’

AMSTERDAM (#ulink_7dcab99e-d185-5dad-a0b4-ab3ef1949318)

This is the old pirate island where back inna day you could buy anything you wanted and anything went. It has changed a bit in the last 20 years but there is still something for everyone in the city of madness. I always liken it to an adult Disneyland: a place chock-full of adult rides (sex and drugs) and fantastic sights and parades (check out Queen’s Day on 1 April for complete mayhem). The Dutch are a creative lot and Amsterdam is where the best of them congregate to get it on. They love their street art, stickers, good food, football, drinking, legal and illegal drugs, galleries, clubs and advertising. They aren’t hung up about much and so this leads to a free-and-easy atmosphere.

But that said, Amsterdam is changing slowly from an open-air adult-orientated museum into a city of pure creativity. For a while, the city’s inspirational talents were jumping ship in favour of Rotterdam, but that is now over. The tourists are still arriving in droves but they seem to be contained to one or two areas of the ’Dam, namely the red light district and the coffee shops. These tourist areas are in the east and the south central area of the city. Just a few hundred feet east of the Centraal Station you’ll find the Warmoesstraat, the beginning of the red light and coffee shop area, in which to lose your mind. The sex and spliff aspect of the ’Dam has to be experienced before you can make up your mind about whether it’s cool or not. I’ve spent many trips to the ’Dam getting wasted back inna day and stumbling around the red light district, but these days I’m straight and the place still rocks. Remember that all the guys selling drugs on the street are just trying to rip you off. Okay, the first thing you gotta know is that all hard drugs are illegal, but if you’re determined to buy drugs then stick to the coffee shops. If you want something that isn’t on the menu then ask the dealers in the coffee shop if they have any info. There is a heavy heritage of culture within the city and all aspects of creativity are respected and encouraged. There are some killer advertising agencies here now (>p104) and the fashion and arts industries are gathering momentum.

If you go off the tourist route slightly you will find the real Amsterdam — a clean, civilized place, almost the opposite to the red light district.

Around the Spui (a square slap-bang in the centre of the ’Dam) is the place to be for book lovers, as there’s a ton of bookshops and a weekly book market on Fridays. There are some great places to eat and traditional style bars in which to spend the evening. Which is exactly where I was when I last hooked up with Michel van Rijn.

Amsterdam is home to my old pal Michel — one of the world’s last true adventurers: art expert, stolen antiquities hunter, multi-millionaire playboy. He’s a larger-than-life character with a heart of gold, and I’m truly happy to see him whenever I go to the ’Dam. We always mooch off to a pavement bar where Michel begins to tackle a long line of double bloody Marys without any visible effect. He then fills me in on his latest accomplishments, none of which I can speak about, let alone write about here. Let’s just say that he’s got his fingers in a lot of pies and one of the biggest and most complete collections of religious art in the world. A true bon viveur!

HOT SPOTS

Best homemade fries in town: Vleminckx, Voetboogstraat

Wicked bookshop: The American Book Centre, Spui 12

Great ‘hood: De Pijp, take tram 16 or 24 or 25 to Albert Cyperstr then walk east

Good Bar: Café ‘t Spui-tje, Spuistraat 318 (old-school ’Dam bar)

Great Hotel: The Lloyd Hotel. Oostelijke

ASBESTOS (#ulink_6c07da54-ac9a-57b9-8cc7-caa131d49b34)

www.theartofasbestos.com (http://www.theartofasbestos.com)

A few years ago I bumped into Asbestos while he was busy rubbing down one of his large-scale pieces of someone’s hand on somebody else’s wall in a suburb of Antwerp. I know his work but had never met the guy so I stopped to talk. It’s at moments like this that you know you’re gonna get on with someone and me and Asbestos click like a clockwork orange and that is it: Down for life, and so we hang out for a weekend doing the ‘street-art shuffle’ and generally getting down with some serious hang time and talk shop.

‘My art is defined by the people I meet and interpreting them, it’s about the human form and the environment that I live in’ he says. ‘I like to interact with the space that’s around me and the streets are ripe with opportunities to express yourself. Whether it’s a painting I’ve put up on a wall or a sticker on a lamppost, it all adds to the layers of dirt and personality of a city. My paintings are meant to become part of their environment and the longer they stay up, the more they blend in and integrate with the walls. Hopefully the odd passer-by will see the work and react to it. Positive or negative, any response is good for me — once work is out on the street it’s fair game to be loved or criticized, I release all control of it once I put it out there.’

What I like about Asbestos’ work is that his gallery pieces are all created on discarded material found in the streets, usually around where the show is taking place.

‘All my work is done on found objects, be it wood, plasterboard, metal or anything else I notice in a skip at 3 am. These objects have a history and a personality to them that cannot be faked. They’re a snapshot of the past and part of the fabric of the city which missed their chance of a quiet life in a landfill site.’

His art has evolved in a natural way. He has never jumped on any bandwagon or followed any trends in art whatsoever.

‘In the last year my work has been inspired by the use of the triangle and deconstructionist shapes that I’ve seen in architectural structures. The triangle has now become a central element in my work that ties together the dirty, random, found aesthetic that I’ve always loved with a hard and structured form of the triangle. Thinking about the triangle, I’ve come to realize it’s the coolest of all the shapes — circles and squares have nothing on it.’

The other side of Asbestos’ art is his Lost Series of stickers and posters that advertise random missing objects that are lost but may not need to be found.

‘This series has been a constant in my work over that last few years and provides me with a bizarrely fun outlet to interact with the public. I’m constantly getting amused and bemused mails from people who’ve spotted the stickers to tell me that they’ve found what’s lost or that they hope I find one of my errant objects.’

JONAS ÅKERLUND (#ulink_d54d2560-a6c4-57d1-bdb7-e732e5a1ce4f)

www.raf.se (http://www.raf.se)

Jonas Åkerlund is one of the world’s most visionary and consistently innovative film directors. He’s created some of the greatest, most memorable music videos for the likes of The Prodigy, Madonna, Blink 182, The Smashing Pumpkins and Ali-G (respect!) and made the transition to the big screen seamlessly with his debut feature Spun — a film so dope that it made me want to start taking drugs again (after being totally clean for at least five years) when I last watched it! His Swedish sensibilities ensure that his work is always original, and bacon-sandwich-droppingly controversial. Way back when, Jonas happened to be working for a production company when he was presented with an opportunity to step up his game.

‘I was working in other areas of production when Swedish TV went commercial. We were one of the last countries in the world to have commercial TV and when it happened every company wanted a commercial. So I just started shooting commercials. It was the most natural thing for me to do.’

He then began to make commercials in Europe and then gradually moved into music videos, which is where he found worldwide fame. He blew up with his brilliant and controversial ‘Smack My Bitch Up’ video, which is still the greatest music video — ever.

‘I think being Swedish I have a different shock level than the rest of the world, so I honestly try and bend the rules. I know that you can’t show certain things. With the Prodigy video, the most shocking thing was how big it became. This was before the Internet so everyone was passing around videotapes. Everyone saw it you know, Jay Leno made jokes about it on his show for five nights in a row… It was the first time that I made something that seemed to affect people…’

I kinda wonder if the music video is still relevant now as it was back inna day, when MTV ruled supremely. I ask Jonas if he still feels the same when he is making the videos today as he was back then.

‘I still enjoy making music videos but the problem I have is that everyone is worried about the content. There used to be a time when the videos were creative and free from all red tape, the brief was ‘just do something that we haven’t seen before, something that sticks out that people talk about’. And today the brief is that it’s gotta be ‘Iconic’. Making music videos has recently become a bit more like doing a commercial, but with an inexperienced client. The thing with advertising agencies is that they know what they are talking about. They know their audience. With the music world they are all smart-asses who all think they know what they’re talking about — but they really don’t. Out of that inexperience comes great creativity, that’s why I still love it!’

Back in 2002 when he made Spun, no one would even send Mickey Rourke a script, let alone cast him in a movie; he was seen as box-office poison by the fools who run the show, but Jonas ignored all this bullshit and cast him as ‘The Cook’ — one of Mickey’s finest roles to date. I give him total respect for that action alone. Jonas has recently completed shooting a $25m horror film, Horsemen, and continues to create amazing music videos and commercials around the world.

ADVERTiSiNG (#ulink_ae066137-14ad-545b-b11f-0cbf5d0aed72)

So I may be a bit biased (as I used to be an art director, hence the ADZ in my name) but advertising has had a massive influence on street culture and vice versa. In terms of audio/visual culture, adverts are not only massively influenced by street shit (usually they are always playing catch-up to what is really happening on the street), they also, once in a while, influence it. Okay, so right now the advertising industry is in a bit of a strange place as the Internet came along and changed everything. The web is a showcase of original ideas, created by everyone and anyone — it totally changed the way ad agencies worked, who were no longer an exclusive source of creative genius anymore.