The photo above is a source of inspiration.
I aimed to get knowledge from people who achieved something in their life. I chose two bloggers that are important to the media community. Internet gives great opportunities for the users, sometimes it makes people famous. I guess, we all have followers nowadays. The question for me is what is it to be a media guy? I wanted to get a better understanding of certain processes (How it is made? What is that for? How does it work? How did you get there? etc) and ask some personal questions or advice on a topic of common interests. I started with writing an email, in which I introduced myself, explained the idea of the project and said, that I would love to meet them, if possible, and have a personal talk. At this point the meeting was important for me, but I knew things might go wrong and I was prepared for that, as it is part of the game.
I reached Good Guy Boris from thegrifters.org [x] to talk about street culture and his personal artistic experience. I chose him, because, in my opinion, he is a great example of anti-style graffiti artist, as well as street and urban exploration photographer, media-guy, curator and book publisher. He has been around for many years and came up with a lot of cool and funny content, that gives an insight into mysterious, for general public, world of graffiti. Most of artists/vandals tend to hide their identity, Boris, on opposite, does not want to do that because, he claims graffiti is not a bad thing! So, he became the middle man between graffiti elite and ordinary public. It is great, because a lot of people do not know what the language of the streets is.
Good Guy Boris
By the time my project was going, Good Guy Boris Published his new book, from material he has been collecting for around ten years. He told me, that he is busy, but, maybe, one day, the meeting will happen. I was ready for this sort of outcome and had a second option: Michail Charoudin aka Boosted Boris – journalist, petrol head, media person and simply a great guy, that lives by the famous racing track Nürburgring. The facility is approximately 21 km long and requires a lot of concentration from driver. Most of the production and super cars are being tested and improved there. It is still a public road, while being one if the greatest race tracks on Earth. I am wondering what it is like to live in a car paradise and how he ended up having a dream job there?
Boosted Boris 🙂
Michail agreed meet and said, that he might be in Helmond, Netherlands soon. That was perfect for me, because, it is only one and a half hours away from Amsterdam and I had no need to leave the country. Unfortunately, I did not get any confirmation before the arranged date and the meeting, obviously, did not happen. Although both Boris and Michael were kind to reply, they explained, that at the moment they have no time to answer my questions, but they appreciate my interest. Maybe, one day, but not this time. That was the answer. I had to come up with an other option.
So, I wrote to Utah&Ether, a couple, famous within graffiti community for doing pieces around the world. They are called Bonnie&Clyde of graffiti world and left a mark in many exotic places, mostly on track sites, trains and public areas. You could find their pieces in the Netherlands as well. I wanted to get an insight in their life. This time I got no reply. Luckily, they have been interviewed many times, so I had some good material to read. There is link to check:
In the end I did not meet anyone.
I had to put away my questions for a certain time and continued working on my own. As I usually do, when I have no ideas, I went to the flee market in the neighbourhood and bought some junk for a few coins. One of the things that caught my attention was a pack of two orange bicycle reflectors. I have decided to cut one in half, because I was attracted with a hollow space in between two orange disks with pyramids on the inner surface. When I did that, I discovered an interesting optical effect. This made me want to share the visuals with others and I made glasses, which is a solution to experience the loss of reality with both eyes.
I was not satisfied with my first result, as I used the sun glasses instead of the clear lens and it was obviously too dark for the full effect. So, I made a simple frame out wood, that resembled binoculars in theatres. Now, when I was satisfied with the effect, I look through my object with a camera. The image that you get is orange and combined from what is around you. Perspectives smoothly merge into each other. It is amazing that this visuals are like that because of the way it works, without editing. No photoshop. Here are some examples:
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Perception of space varnishes.
Without meeting anyone I produced an object, that meant to be made for my role model. Does it mean that I made it for myself than if it is not for somebody else? I thought that role models are good to look up to, but you could rely on nobody, but yourself.
Finally, I made a short video in the supermarket filming directly through the glasses. It did not need much editing, because the natural kaleidoscopic effect is important. Difficulty of choice and too many opinions around us disconnect us from reality.