Jessica:

Hi there Mark, how are you? Once again, thank you for participating for this interview.  Would you like to share your thoughts and feelings with our readers on your new book, Bathroom Graffiti?

Jessica:

What first gave you the idea of putting a book together about graffiti?

Mark:

 I believe it was a number of things but, its strange how things in life line up to present an experience. I had just recently returned from a trip from Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, taking in all that the Mayan archaeological sites had to offer. I was living in Houston, Texas at the time and I was paying tribute at a local dive bar called Lola’s “The Home of Reality” was their tagline.

I had been there a number of times but this time the writing on the wall took on a different appearance, it felt new as I read the graffiti. Maybe it was one of those “Ahh ah” moments. It was then I came upon a piece of graffiti on the wall above the urinal of course. 

It was an excerpt from The First Elegy a poem by Rilke a German poet, “For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we are still just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us. Every Angel is terrifying.” And this caused me to wonder what had inspired one to put a marker to the wall and infuse this place with grace.

And what was this moment in their life that compelled them to write a message this mile post in their life that required acknowledgment, an offer to the porcelain gods.  I felt the ritual of it and it deepened the meaning for me. I thought it was beautiful! I later returned to photograph it. Not realising that this would inspire me and set me off on my own journey, to continue documenting this form of communication.

Jessica: 

What for you personally is the most meaningful graffiti you have ever come across?

Mark

It might be the piece that initiated the obsession.  There are so many, but I like ones that range from the poignant to the trickster tongue in cheek, for example, in Portland,  Oregon at a alternative/grunge club where mostly  young teens hang out was a piece in the men’s room “Speak to All the Children Carefully”, to which someone responded “Luv it”. It was obviously written by a club goer, but why?

Another might be “The greatest weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed”, which is actually a quote from Stephen Biko a South African activist who was murdered in the early 80’s.  Then again, I love this one from San Francisco, “My Karma Ran Over My Dogma”.  That one hits you right between the third eye. I love it!

I like that Bathroom Graffiti removes us from the box that we use to categorise ourselves.  Bathroom Graffiti is a common denominator; it celebrates of what we have in common just as rituals do. It’s a cultural dynamic that binds us to everything human. It’s our humanity that will save us from ourselves and anything that bridges the divide is good.  Bathroom graffiti for me is meaningful in every way. 

Jessica:

Have you ever created graffiti yourself?  

Mark

Maybe when I was younger but nothing substantial, I wasn’t a graffitist. But really who hasn’t done graffiti in some form.

Jessica

Did you ever doodle as a boy?

Mark:

Mmmm…Of coarse on school books maybe and my folders…which is probably why I didn’t do Graff.  I was more into pencil drawing, water colours and pen and ink stuff then.

Jessica

Do you think graffiti is recognized as ART?

Mark:

It appears more so in the last maybe five to years, and that’s only because it’s tied to advertising and target markets, graffiti is being exploited for its’ cool factor. Bansky is perhaps one of the forerunners in this area though he has maintained a bit of integrity in the process of coming up, as is Shepard Fairy of OBEY fame, which some of his following accuses him of selling out.

Is it being accepted on its’ own terms?  Possibly, but it’s definitely being watered down or used to promote corporate product placement, which in the long run is a double edged sword.  

One of the reasons I did this book was to validate the bathroom graffiti and allow perspective and public discourse, to give, in a sense permission to investigate bath graffiti, to except it on one’s own terms and understand it from another vantage point.  At one time graffiti originated from a place of oppression, exclusion, and silliness it gave voice to the voiceless, it seemed more a political statement at one time.  But I believe anything that communicates our humanness and emotes our transient and temporal existence in some form should be considered art.

Jessica

Do you think cavemen did graffiti on their walls?

Mark:

Absolutely, for instance, one piece in the Chauvet Pont-d'Arc cave are the earliest known paintings in the world were discovered by Jean-Marie Chauvet and two friends, Éliette Brunel and Christian Hillaire, on the Cirque d'Estre in the Ardéche Valley region in France in nineteen ninety-four. 

The artist whose gender is unknown because the piece dates back 30,000 years give or take, demonstrated a usage of color and natural elements incorporated in the piece.  Our Paleolithic artist/graffitists drew a vagina shaped clefts complete with undulating folds, placed over a part of the cave where a deposit of red clay had seeped through from the ground above, with what appears to be horses emerging from it.  Metaphor? Ritual? 

The reason or purpose may not be known as to why the artist chose these elements.  But more importantly is that our bi-pedal cousin’s genetic disposition.  They had more on their mind besides hunting and gathering, their desire to communicate and leave something behind on an ethereal level.

Jessica

Have you any favourite colours and what do they represent to you?

Mark:

mmm…my sign is Aries, I love walks on the beach at sunset…oh sorry wrong interview.   Colours?  Maroon/purple feels good in every shade of their vibration.  Also deep blues…again across the spectrum all variations from light to dark, this colour represents consciousness for me alive and breathing, ether and vapour. 

 But what I’m looking at is capturing the firing neuron, a thought or emotion expressed, it’s not so much the colour as it’s the expression creative way the graffiti takes shape on the wall of a restroom. It’s as though the restroom becomes this net that filters this stream of consciousness, if that makes sense.

Colours do enhance the visual appeal but it’s not the ultimate goal. I was glad to hear that MOMA in New York picked up the book for their museum stores as well as MOCA in Los Angeles.  The fact that established museums of note acknowledge this form of communication was a highlight of the project so far.

Jessica:

Do you think graffiti artists/writers are ruled by the weather? (e.g. Stormy or Heatwave?)

Mark:

I imagine so which is why I focused on the restroom graffiti.  I don’t think one will put up a piece on a railway overpass during a blizzard.  I met graff artist with street cred and how they have lost friends and crew members to trains and falling off bridges etc. perhaps even do to weather conditions.  I think they are ruled by the law of physics more than anything because it’s their nature to get up (do graffiti) in the most precarious of places.  It’s badge of honour for them and they gain respect amongst their peers.

Jessica:

Do you intend putting together more books about graffiti? (If so where would you look for it?)

Mark:

Yes, I look forward to doing another book as time and monies allows. I will more than likely continue in the same genre because it’s unique in that most bathroom graffiti is anonymous and that it’s not based on getting their name or logo up.  It’s more about the idea, the message or elevating a concept.  I would like it to be more inclusive and take submissions from all parts of the world.  “Bathroom Graffiti” the definitive collection.

To read Jessica's Review of Bathroom Graffiti CLICK HERE

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