POSH ONE

 

Judah Tunnels, San Francisco

 

 

Posh did the frogs and background with "Quake" by Schmoo, Ole. Orange County 1997

 

With Axis and Ole, Hollywood

 

 

With Aura

 

What is the main thing you try to accomplish with your writing?

Original concepts. I try to convey ideas.

You're always talking about concepts, what do you mean, and how do you come up with them? What are the best ones you've done?

A "concept" is something that sends a message. It's definitely not about preaching (yelling the message loud in someone's face)..it's more hidden in the actual piece of art.

I come up with them by looking at the world around me. TV, books, and word-play.

Just a couple examples...

We did this one production that was all these bunkers with pieces on them. We did barbed wire, Vaughn Bode lizards dressed in Nazi uniforms, and a Volkswagen from World War II. The idea was that the bunkers got "bombed" and no matter how many tanks, guns, and planes the Nazis put up...we're gonna keep painting. It basically says that if they just let us paint on the wall to begin with it would be art, but because we have to take extreme measures to still paint it's a form of terrorism. We never wrote the words "police" or "cop" anywhere on the mural, but the cops knew what we were saying with this one..and threatened the store owner until he buffed it.

We did a butterfly collection in San Francisco one time. We made a butterfly case out of the background and made the pieces look like butterflies pinned to it. The idea was that people collect photos of pieces and consider them beautiful...just like butterflies.

What about the ants?

The ants are probably the best concept that I ever brought to graffiti. I'm really into insects and the ant is really symbolic of a lot of things.

Ants do what they are programmed to do and never question their individuality. People are definitely becoming ants. We don't question why we root for sports teams on which we don't know one person, and often aren't even from our city or state. We don't question why we go to work to make someone else's money. We don't question why we're sitting in traffic waiting and waiting to get home.

The worker ant never questions his existence and says "Hey, today I'm going to be a soldier ant or a queen ant". They just exist.

The act of doing graffiti is the opposite of this to me. When I paint it basically says..."I'm sick of being a worker ant...look at me..I'm an artist ant, and I'm different."

I did a piece one time of my name, but the fill was an "ant farm". I think that the world is basically one big ant farm. Once we've ate all the food and built all the tunnels (buildings) we can, we're going to all die and what we've built is going to collapse. (Just like an "ant farm").

Tell me more about the robots. I started noticing the robots awhile back, they were immediatly recognizable and I knew that I had to meet the person that was doing them! What inspired the robots and what are you trying to do with them?

Thanks.

I play a lot of wargames, video games, and I used to play with tons of toy tanks, ships, and all that shit. A regular GI Joe junky. All of that is stored away in my head. I'm fascinated with man's need to make bigger and better death machines. Also, they are symbolic of the graff war we're all a part of. After all...it's called "Bombing".

I paint each one from scratch (no sketch) and make sure that each is different. That's starting to get tough though...I've done so many of them. Because they are two color and improvisational, they're quick and easy. Good for the down and dirty spots where I don't have much time or don't want to put too much planning into it.

Are you in it for fame, or do you paint for yourself?

Both. I wouldn't paint on walls that people could see if I didn't like the fame. Anyone who says that they "paint for themselves and no one else" is lying, or they'd be painting in a backyard.

Has your job in the video game industry helped your writing and/or has your writing helped you on the job?

They definitely feed off each other. I plan projects at work, and I plan productions for walls.