Rooms Art Uncovered Magazine’s maiden issue has an exclusive interview with Brooklyn’s paste, poetry and collage king Elbowtoe. Rooms brings you the latest discoveries from a global subculture; showcasing arresting artwork from hidden and not so hidden artists: illustrators, painters,writers and other original creative thinkers. It’s available in both magazine and online flavour – go get yours. Available from selected cutting edge London venues now.

How do you feel right now?

Daunted by the realisation that I have to answer all these questions.

Why do you paint?

I guess my style is a little schizophrenic in terms of using a mixture of mediums.  I am just as at home painting as I am wheat pasting, producing installations or sculptures to layering up collages and screen printing. As long as I’m being creative I’m pretty damn happy.

What are you currently obsessed with?

Packaging that has been discarded in the street, I have about 40 crushed Coke cans that I have collected and are in my opinion things of beauty – all different, all crushed in uniquely different ways. I’m having that age old dilemma though, what is art?

How/does your past career influence your work?

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in the sanitised world of corporate graphics, it’s liberating to break away from those restrictions and play around with dirtying stuff up, degrading images and conceptualising on a different level..

How would you say your art has progressed over the years?

I would like to think that I have kept loyal to my initial ethos and am continually pushing and experimenting and hopefully getting better.

 Name one street artist you can’t get enough of and explain why. 

Banksy, still the sharpest and the best. The show in Bristol is awesome and I never use that word. Loving the way he’s using sculpture and installation, brings a warm glow to my heart as I’m a keen exponent of this form of street art.

How much thought goes into your work?

 Is it spontaneous or considered?  -  Always considered, concept and the message is key for me, I’m not really into pretty pictures for example.

How would you define “street art?” And how do you view it’s connection with ‘graffiti’

For a definition of good street art see my answer to question 16. Street art and I’m presuming you mean predominantly stencil art was a natural progression from old school graffiti born out of getting stuff up on walls quickly before you got arrested.

What does it mean to sell-out?

Doing more than about 10 artist proofs of screen prints makes me angry especially when they’re exactly the same as the regular edition.

What is authenticity? What does it mean to keep it real?

Do what you want to and not what’s going to make you cash otherwise it becomes little more than IKEA art. If the two collide all well and good.

Describe your process.  

Firstly, an initial concept or germ of an idea which can take the form of a headline, a lyric or just a word. Then it’s a matter of attaching a visual element to it that works on hopefully more than one level which brings the whole thing together as one.

Is there such a thing as ‘bad’ art? What is it? Name names.

In my opinion yeah, there’s loads of crap art out there but that’s the beauty of it because it’s always a matter of personal taste. Also, to a large degree it doesn’t matter if something is good or bad, a high percentage of people are like sheep and buy certain art because they are told it is good.

Do street artists make ethical choices in what they do, where they do it and how?

For me yes, I certainly like to tie all the loose ends up but I’ve definitely been guilty of vandalism for vandalism sake.

Everything is about fear or desire. Which one interests you more?

Fear to fail, love to succeed.

The last great piece of work you saw was what, by whom and how did it make you feel?

Guy Denning’s piece at UPFEST – though I think he should have stopped about an hour earlier as it looked the dogs and in my opinion he overworked it a bit in the end. Also… he wore a very fetching brown bowler so extra marks there.

Can good art be political? Can political art be good?

I guess most of my stuff has a political bent in some way or another so definitely yes.

What is good art? What is good street-art?

I guess according to the masses, good art is something that sells, great art is something that sells for millions – for me, good street art is something that utilises it’s environment or makes a comment that captures a moment in time.

Who has got completely the wrong end of the stick recently?

Politicians. They continually bemuse me with some of their choices and actions.

Where is it all going?

Down the plug hole

Where are you going?

Probably down the plug hole too but hopefully doing some good art on the way down.

Is street-art a social activity?

Having done a few street art festivals recently (Upfest, Bazaart, The Beautiful & The Canned) the simple answer is yes and it’s great meeting like minded people and getting young kids involved in being creative. Having said that… it’s not that social when you’re half way up a ladder at 2am with a stencil that’s too big and a spray can that’s on it’s last legs.

What albums are you listening to at the moment?

In a world that listens to music constantly on shuffle I have been revisiting albums and listening to them as they were meant to be listened to – track 1 through to the end. Songs for Swinging lovers by Frank Sinatra, Nevermind by Nirvana, Raw Power by Iggy Pop, The Heart of Saturday Night by Tom Waits…. a whole mishmash of stuff really.

In a world without limits you would create…

I don’t feel I have limits creatively just financially. At the beginning of the year I wanted to put the Houses of Parliament up for sale, If I’d of had the cash I would have run some full page fake estate agents adverts in the newspapers. I also looked into large scale projection but alas money restricted me.

How fucked are we on a scale of one to ten? What can we do about it?

I reckon about a 9 but we’ll keep plodding on.

The ancient greeks reckoned that art and science should bridge the gap between nature and perfection. What’s your thoughts?

I reckon art should be like a greetings card, seize the moment and then chuck it away.

Ten years later when he’s not busy working @ (U.P.S), he is submitting art through out the valley of Phoenix,Az USA. and nationwide. Last month Mad One was displaying some Mad Ink art at the “UM” gallery located in downtown Phoenix Arizona. He is also participating in the “Gimme Shelter” tour.With artist’s Dalek, Seizer, Ron English and others.

Catch Mike displaying the art of Mad One at TASOC gallery in New Jersey USA. From July-September 2009

That’s not all this outrageous artist does. When he’s not getting pieces ready for his art to hit the galleries, he is doing custom art, multimedia paintings, logos, street art and other custom design work. So be on the look out for his art coming to a city near you. 

How do you feel right now?

Confused, frustrated…..Should I keep going….LOL!!! Overall Happy to be ALIVE!

Why do you paint?

Freedom of expression and it helps ease my pains and worries. Plus if I didn’t get my thoughts/ideas out of my head I would probably have crazy dreams and go insane or something……

What are you currently obsessed with?

Wheat paste, malt liquor (40 oz’s MAN!), and my beautiful girlfriend (Gabby) 

How/does your past career influence your work?

 It helped me get some of my frustration out instead of projecting it in a negative way. Which I tend to believe it helped me a bit with my style and making it a bit more “wild” or abstract if you want to be technical…

How would you say your art has progressed over the years?

 Tremendously!!! It’s been a challenge though getting away from what I would normally do. Now I’m doing things pieces, canvases etc… So people/viewers have to do a double take or even question was that or is that done by “Mad One”?….

Name one street artist you can’t get enough of and explain why.

“WK” who is based currently out of NY,NY. Regardless of his color scheme never changing his work has motion to it and is ever changing. He motivates/inspires me to progress forward and attempt to do different ideas with different mediums that I would not normally work with or even think about. He has shown the underground art world where one can come from and the next day or year etc.. Just blow up in the game/scene, making viewers question where did this piece/artist come from and when?….  You all have been overlooking this true artist for years now just so you know!

How much thought goes into your work? Is it spontaneous or considered?

Limited amounts I try not to put to much thought into it, otherwise I start to change my mind about the piece I’m working on and have second doubts etc… I try to keep it fresh and switch it up every once and again. Periodically I will be spontaneous and just grab a blank canvas and go to town on it like I’m doing live art in front of a huge crowd and other times I like my art to be partially considered and thought out to a certain degree. Keep in mind “proper planning avoids PISS POOR PIECES”!!    

How would you define “street art?” And how do you view it’s connection with ‘graffiti’

 “Street Art” is visual stimulation and FREE to the mind and the eyes. I could rant and rave about the definition and connection to “graff” But I feel as though everyone that has answered this similar question in other interviews etc… Has said it all and I would rather move on and keep my thoughts or opinions to myself.

What does it mean to sell-out?

 To me it means…… If you or I were to walk into a Wal-Mart or target etc… and see my art for sale in mass quantity at rather cheap prices. Its one thing to be commercial it’s another story if you are in every major/minor store out there in the world for all to see and buy. Also another sign of selling out is when you don’t even have any say as to what direction or crowd purchases your art/merch.  

What is authenticity? What does it mean to keep it real?

 Originality!! Something that has yet to be done by another artist SUCESSFULLY!

Keeping it real to me means it was designed by me, put up/out by me and not forgetting your roots and where you came from or how you got started.

Describe your process.

 I tend to make a list of things/projects I would like to accomplish and then achieving those thoughts and seeing the final outcome and being satisfied with the piece.

MULTIMEDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is there such a thing as ‘bad’ art? What is it? Name names.

YES but I will leave that up to the art critics that’s not my style to bash peeps names and the style they do.  

Do street artists make ethical choices in what they do, where they do it and how?

 I tend to believe so at least one’s that have something going for them in the art life or in life in general… I think if you weigh everything out before you go out and get up you hopefully will make the right choices etc… But then again you never know, the human brain is like a circus act some people just have a better ring leader then others.

What role do you play in the street-art scene?

Locally in Phoenix Arizona I feel I play a vital roll as to where street art is going and the acceptance it has with the general public. Just in the past five years or so it has grown to be accepted in the local galleries and the periodicals etc.. It’s taken a lot of time and effort but I feel I have been an influence as well to locals and others nationwide and abroad…

Everything is about fear or desire. Which one interests you more? 

 Desire it’s what burns inside of me and keeps my motivation burning day after day.

Do you believe that another world is possible?

 I most definitely do! Just not sure when or where yet…….In the meantime praise JAH RASTAFARI!

The last great piece of work you saw was what, by whom and how did it make you feel?

  A HUGE stencil/piece done in LA,CA. By “MBW” it took up the entire side of one wall, it had to of been at least 10ft x 20ft. LARGE! 

Can good art be political? Can political art be good?

YES and vise versa

What is good art? What is good street-art?

 N/A Again I will leave this up to those wine drinking art critics and others.

Who has got completely the wrong end of the stick recently?

 One name: BORF

Where is it all going?

 Down the drain if no one takes appreciation and respects how the game/scene started. A lot of the kids these days lack respect for property and paying your dues to any scene you part take in whether it be fashion, music, art etc….

Where are you going?

 Worldwide day by day, then I plan on going to visit the planet mars when the next train comes around.

Is street-art a social activity?

Yes I believe so

What albums are you listening to at the moment?

Thievery corporation, ALWAYS Wu-Tang, Third World, Massive B and some Dub here and there…. 

In a world without limits you would create…

A life size statue of myself that would set outside of the whitehouse in Washington,DC. Next question please………….

How fucked are we on a scale of one to ten? What can we do about it?

 10 cause if we are discussing how fucked we are then we are already knee deep in fucked pudding. LOL!… Don’t let the government run your world or where you chose to reside.                                                                                     -MAD ONE

5 minutes with Tel Aviv street artist Klone . . .

How do you feel right now?

Waking up so not sure yet, will know better after coffee 

Why do you paint?

It makes me feel better, over the years I discovered that it also affects many people around me. But mainly cause painting is my best way to express myself  

What are you currently obsessed with?

Beer and abandoned places  

How/does your past career influence your work?

It does in many way, I used to be a metalworker for 3 years and then also worked in printing for 2 so it all affects my work in a way, every craft you learn is good as it brings the connection between your eyes-brain-hands to a new level . 

How would you say your art has progressed over the years?

I think I am more focused most of the time, at least on the main theme , even though because of my everlasting curiosity I always try new and different stuff, but I’m sure that I got more control over my tools and ideas.  

Name one street artist you can’t get enough of and explain why.

at the moment for me its Escif from spain, his illustrative way of thinking but knowing the way street work as well, make it work so well together, plus he got crazy ideas and great control .  

How much thought goes into your work? Is it spontaneous or considered?

A lot of both, I dont work with specific sketches for works , when i sketch is just to keep drawing and getting the ideas out, but when i get to the surface, if its wall or canvas, then for me its the moment is what matters, my mood and what and whos around me, it all affects my work in different ways. 

How would you define “street art?” And how do you view it’s connection with ‘graffiti’

I dont like all this defining, for me graffiti is the writing, the name, the message through letters, I did this for 5 years and nowadays coming back to it once in awhile, graffiti is about tagging, bombing, piecing, and basically showing presence in your environment, its like standing in middle of street and yelling really loud a name in a weird language mostly, sound that most people wont understand, thats how its with graffiti, its all over the place but its not for the big crowd. 

Street art or however its called these days is a more comunicative way I guess, Its using images and shapes that come from our surroundings, history of art, nature and stuff, its using elements that people will recognise and connect to, or not, but the main emphasis in street-art is – understanding, thats why people get connected more to street art and not graffiti, we always look to understand something, graffiti is a closed memebers only club and street art is more open.  

What does it mean to sell-out?

Well, its all relative right? for me selling out is using public space for commercial purpose, like happens with many brands that want to be street lever or whatever, and people that too easily ready to take a street wall and make their work for a commercial, in times when the commercials fill every space around us anyway, making so much visual noise, street art and graffiti should work against it and not supporting it.  

What is authenticity? What does it mean to keep it real?

Be true to yourself  

Describe your process.

I spend alot of my time out on the street, whether painting or just walking around, my main inspiration is people and nature, and there’s so much interesting out there, its all being processed in my head 24/7 and then i spill it on whatever surface around me . 

Is there such a thing as ‘bad’ art? What is it? Name names.

Everybody got their own truth you know, and different approach, i dont tell people how to live or what to paint as long as they don’t tell me. If you feel good with what you’re doing, then its good for you and in the end of the day it all what matters .  

Do street artists make ethical choices in what they do, where they do it and how?

I dunno, maybe the choices of where to work, I prefer to work in the poor areas of he city most of the time, there its accepted more and getting good responses, people get colour to they hard daylife .  

Everything is about fear or desire. Which one interests you more?

they support each other, everyhting is about fear, desire beer and good meal, thats all you need to create, and a lot of curiosity . 

The last great piece of work you saw was what, by whom and how did it make you feel?

I the last year, works of Blu blew me away, both size and ideawise, they made me feel inspired and a bit envious  

Can good art be political? Can political art be good?

It can, depends who makes it, some people are good at making this collaboration, some are shit at it. Its not easy at all and I prefer not sticking my nose into politics most of the time even though it affects my work sometimes .  

What is good art? What is good street-art?

Good art is about the great combination of idea-material-technique-image, good street art is about great combination of idea-material-technique-image-environment 

Who has got completely the wrong end of the stick recently?

No idea, hope not me  

Where is it all going?

Its all going and that what matters in the end, as long as you dont stand on the spot  

Where are you going?

Every day is another adventure, so I’m going till i’m too tired every day, In the end I hope to be realy good in what I’m doing and to master more crafts .  

Is street-art a social activity?

Yes and no, its social in arts scene I guess but you still dont know my name or my face and when you’re on the street you can talk to my work and it will look back at you but thats it for now . 

What albums are you listening to at the moment? 

Between experimental tekno to some gipsy stuff, cant remember names, my memory sucks.  

In a world without limits you would create…

Frames and boundaries, you need to know where to stop at least for a moment. 

How fucked are we on a scale of one to ten? What can we do about it?

Can’t stop at ten cause tomorrow we’ll get higher, not sure if we can do anything really, humans are learning only when it smacks us in the face and even then I’m not sure if that helps. 

The ancient Greeks reckoned that art and science should bridge the gap between nature and perfection. What do you reckon?

well ,they didnt have all the global warming, depressions, world wars and diets to care about, every generation it all got to change, greeks brought the basics but nowadays its all just too fast, you will post this online and in few seconds it will be retweeted or something all over the place.

Images courtesy of Sabeth (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabeth718/) and Cake

This week we catch up with the wonder that is Cake.
Cake has been one of the most prolific street artists in her home town of Brooklyn.

How do you feel right now?

Wrapped up.

Why do you paint? 

Because it sustains me. 

What are you currently obsessed with? 

Anatomy

How/does your past career influence your work? 

I’m not one for careers.

Name one street artist you can’t get enough of and explain why. 

Miso from Australia because her work is beautiful.

How much thought goes into your work? 

Sometimes a lot, sometimes just enough to get something going. 

Is it spontaneous or considered?

Both

How would you define “street art?” 

Art that is made for the streets and installed in the streets. 

And how do you view it’s connection with ‘graffiti’ ?  

A (graffiti) writer broke my heart once.

What does it mean to sell-out? 

I don’t know.  People are too quick to label others as “sell out”.   Its possible that when someone calls someone else a sell out it means they want what they have.

What is authenticity? 

Honesty

What does it mean to keep it real? 

Means keep it honest.

Describe your process. 

It’s boring for others to hear but nice for me to experience.

Is there such a thing as ‘bad’ art? What is it? Name names.

Sure there is plenty of bad art to go around.  Never name names unless that’s your job.  Its not mine though. 

Do street artists make ethical choices in what they do, where they do it and how? 

Depends on the artist. 

Everything is about fear or desire. Which one interests you more?  

They both kind of suck. 

The last great piece of work you saw was what, by whom and how did it make you feel? 

A painting of a man in the center of a field of grass by Francis Bacon that I saw last Friday at the Met.   It made me feel like painting.

Can good art be political? Can political art be good? 

Yes to both but I’m not one for  discussing politics.

Who has got completely the wrong end of the stick recently?   

Any woman on “Bridezillas”.  

Where is it all going? 

Huh?

Where are you going? 

Back to Berlin

Is street-art a social activity? 

Can be.  But I like to do it alone, as with most things.

What albums are you listening to at the moment? 

I’m too embarrassed to say.

In a world without limits you would create… 

I gotta think more about this one..

How fucked are we on a scale of one to ten? 

Ten for sure but also not at all if you can see  and accept how fucked we are it brings it back down to one.

What can we do about it? 

Accept it/ Nothing.

The ancient Greeks reckoned that art and science should bridge the gap between nature and perfection. What do you reckon?

That the Greeks knew more about thinking about science, nature and perfection than I ever will.  But if you are a maker its best to always make things.

How do you feel right now?
Extremely hung over.

Why do you paint?
Best therapy around.

What are you currently obsessed with?
The models that posed for my HOOD project. Oh and Bacardi and cokes.

How/does your past career influence your work?
I’m a high school teacher so it’s great to be connected to pop culture and fashion through my students. Oh and they are great guinea pigs when I need resource photos.

How would you say your art has progressed over the years?
I kind of look at the past 7 years or so as pure experimentation. Experimenting is a huge part of my process. I honestly don’t think any one style can be pinned on me, for better or worse. I do feel that my most recent body of work represents what people can expect from me in the future. I think I found a groove I’m happy with, a balance if you will.

Name one street artist you can’t get enough of and explain why.
I hate commenting on other artists for the pure fact that there is so much great stuff out there.

How much thought goes into your work? Is it spontaneous or considered?
None. Every piece comes together through process. Even pieces that end up being a clean stencil on a white canvas which to most would seem pre planned. I don’t know how I’m going to use a stencil after I cut it. I don’t sketch or draw or plan any canvases, I did enough of that as an illustrator. My street art however is well thought out to an extent, sometimes not enough I’m afraid, but I’m a doer, I gotta do shit, I can’t sit and dwell on ideas, there are too many that need to be brought to life.

How would you define “street art?” And how do you view it’s connection with ‘graffiti’
I’ve been asked this a lot. The answer is simple for me “street art” is, yes, art placed on the street through the use of, well, anything at your disposal. The main difference between it and “graffiti” is street art often connects to a broader cross section of society and it’s usually more planned out. When I did graffiti nothing was planned you just skated around town tagging which to 99% percent of the population was simply unreadable squiggly lines, hence no message was conveyed other than some punk just fucked your shit up.

What does it mean to sell-out?
Look I can’t fathom that there is an artist alive that wouldn’t “sell out” if it meant they could fund their creations. And if there is one alive that would not sell out they are probably independently wealthy. People think that all street artists are these rebels saying fuck you to society, but at the end of the day we are advertising our brand just like every other corporate whore. Granted we do it illegally for the most part but we are taking pics and putting them on the net, publishing books, etc.. Why? For recognition and to promote our brand or art. Every true artist wants to spend their life creating by any means necessary it’s so much better when you don’t have to worry about money to fund your art. Starting to earn some money as an artist is great because it really does allow you to grow and experiment. Oh I guess “sell out” means you stop doing your own promoting and let the corporate whores take over. Which I guess could be a bad thing, I don’t know?

What is authenticity? What does it mean to keep it real?
If I made something it’s an authentic Rene Gagnon artwork. If someone copies what I do to the letter then it’s not authentic. Keeping it real? Hmmm… For a lot of people, I guess including me, have a
problem when artists use street art techniques and or graffiti in their work and have never once done anything on the street. That said I think it’s fucked when people do street art and graffiti with the
notion it’s going to shoot them to fame. True street/graffiti artists do it because of the rush and the need to break the law. It’s like a badge you need to earn to use the aesthetic. I share a studio with
another artist, a few years back he pretty much started using every technique I was using including graffiti, in my head I was like “what the fuck, you can’t use graffiti you were never a graffiti artist”
Since then I have kind of grasped the idea that graffiti is another tool in the toolbox for artists but I’ll always have a problem with it.

Describe your process.
Impossible. The tools I use are a constant but the order in which I employ them is never the same.

Is there such a thing as ‘bad’ art? What is it? Name names.
I respect every artist that takes the time to create something from nothing. No there is no such thing as bad art, every creation can be appreciated on some level. There is someone out there to purchase
everyone’s work the trick is finding them.. I read that somewhere. Name names?? Hahaha that’s funny.

Do street artists make ethical choices in what they do, where they do it and how?
Well I do, or try to anyway. I’m not the type of person that likes to piss people off. Albeit I think I’m guilty of it. Inadvertently of course. I would never create something with a preconceived notion to
hurt someone. I like to remain under the radar when it comes to my street work, fat chance though.

Everything is about fear or desire. Which one interests you more?
Fear. Fear of desiring something out of my reach.

The last great piece of work you saw was what, by whom and how did it make you feel?
The ice cream cone spilling out shit on Banksys’ web site. By Banksy or one of his elves. It made me feel like I never want to eat ice cream again.

Can good art be political? Can political art be good?
I try to separate myself from religion and politics. Because it can usually piss people off. Again any art is good to someone out there.

What is good art? What is good street-art?
First part is unanswerable in my opinion. If you made some look, engaged them in any way, it’s good, you did your job.

Who has got completely the wrong end of the stick recently?
Me. Kidding of course. I think Banksy. I saw a lot of chatter about people being disappointed with his last show the pet shop thing. I thought it was brilliant.

Where is it all going?
Not sure. We are all waiting to see what “The Man” does next. Then we will all follow like the rats in the Pied Piper story and be led to our deaths.

Where are you going?
I’m going to the liquor store to get some Bacardi then to the studio to make shit that looks cool.

Is street-art a social activity?
It can be for legal gigs. It’s great to meet other artists and work along side them. Have a drink, shoot the shit, etc.. But true street art isn’t social for me. I actually can’t stand doing it with other
artists. I hate having to worry about what the other guy is doing. I like to be on my own, watching my own back.

What albums are you listening to at the moment?
EMINEM – RELAPSE over and over and over.

In a world without limits you would create…
A way to wake up from a night of drinking with no hangover. Did you pick up on the theme to this interview yet? Yes, last night was a corker at the studio.

How fucked are we on a scale of one to ten? What can we do about it?
10. Nothing. Sit back watch it burn in a blaze of glory.

The ancient Greeks reckoned that art and science should bridge the gap between nature and perfection. What do you reckon?
I reckon I should stop shooting the shit and get to painting. Peace.

With word on the street that people in high places want to buff Banksy’s One Nation Under CCTV, we couldn’t resist the opportunity to feature it again. So we have.