"Obey" in my work is really a call to people to consider obedience, to question obedience, to reflect upon obedience. So I don't want to say it's reverse psychology. I'm not saying "Disobey just for the sake of disobeying" but I think that frequently people follow the path of least resistance because it's convenient, and they're obedient without even realizing how insidious their obedience is.
So, using the word obey, where they had to directly confront the concept of obedience, I hoped would lead people to thinking about the decisions they make and what their consequences are.
The last time I was here was 2004. That was the first time I came here. I did a show at the old V1 location, and, you know, I had a great time. So, I'm here in Copenhagen, I'm going to be doing a show at the V1 Gallery. I made a lot of work, there are 110 pieces in the show, a very diverse range of mostly newer works, but some historical works. Paintings, screen prints, retired stencils that I've used to spray paint on the street and in my studio, original illustrations cut out of a film called "Ruby Lith". I'm showing almost every step that I use in my process to create art, not only because I think that all of those pieces make good art objects, but because I think that they're useful in demonstrating very, very accessible techniques to spread your art around. So, it's both aesthetic and conceptual.
I call it an inside-outside strategy. The more successful I become as a gallery artist, the more pervasive I've been able to be on the street. And I'm also going to be doing a lot of murals and street art while I'm here. Yeah, I'm excited about that, that's one of my most favorite things to do in life is affect the cityscape.
So this you're going to do with stencils ...
Yeah, yeah
And that one?
Yeah that's ... all this'll be done with stencil. I have it all printed out on paper, so I'll put it up with spray adhesive and then cut it right on the wall. And spray it right on the wall.
Hold it.
We're going higher than that, for sure.
Yeah, let me step back and look ... 'cause I just don't want it where people can graph on it. ... Nick can you move the basket so I can check the rotation?
I love that Meikle and Jasper have made a strong effort on my behalf to secure walls where I can do large, ambitious installs. Some of them are going to be painted; some of them are going to be repasted with larger and smaller posters, but I think they're all going to be very powerful pieces.
Probably my greatest goal as an artist is to use art as a more democratic tool than art is frequently able to be used. Galleries and museums are great showcases for art but they just aren't seen by enough people. I believe that art, like music, has the ability to inspire and provoke, and it's a great communication tool that a lot of people should have access to; so, in doing street art, of course, I'm using the public space, which is very accessible, but, even in the work I do on T-shirts or in the gallery, in any context I think the imagery itself is something that the average person can relate to.
[Did he] tell you which ones he's going to pick?
I'm happy with the way this wall's coming out. [It's] taking a little bit longer than I hoped but I think, eh, I think it's going to be worth it.
Being back in Copenhagen is great. This trip's been very intense in terms of the volume of work.
Yeah it needs to be an inch lower.
A full inch?
Eh, get it perfectly straight and I'll tell you.
Copenhagen's a great city with a lot of, eh, you know a lot art culture, design culture, people walking around and it's a good place for street art.
Um, I'm going to have to eh, do some fine tuning.
