1. Could you talk about how you got into making art for the streets,
what inspirations did you have? How long have you been into art, and
Street Art more specifically.
Ok! First of all I allways been in to art. I think, About the streets, I started when I was a little skateboarder. Just writing my true name with a marker on the spots. My uncle is from Geneve (Switzerland), that in fact is not really far from my home just 3 hours by car and when I went there I saw all these pieces on the walls I was crazy. I saw something in Milano too, first 90's. I wanted to do the same... so I started to write fake names (tags). In the same times some writers from a little town near Alessandria, did the first trau pieces in a squat in my town. It was the first time I saw a writer. My oldest skateborader friends talked to me about writing and hip hop, but I never understood the connection. I was in to hardcore/punk. Untill that time the only stuff on the walls I saw was the classic murales or stencils. For a lot of years I have drawn just letters. They have a big power, I love expecially tags and silver pieces, sometimes I feel insane. About street art, I'm not a street artist, I do art on the street*. I never did -posters- -stickers- -stencils- I think about things and I do it withouth useless rules. I did the first things in 99-2000. Ugly things. At the time "street art" was unknown to me, I saw just the black logos of STAK, on some Roma's trains, and the "PAPERELLA" in Bologna years before the discussion is too long.............................. what people call "street art" is older than writing.
2. Could about the significance of these yellow, slug like characters
and the name 108? Is there a message your trying to get across with
your work at all?
An important thing is that I don't do only yellow sticker. This is the first thing I did on the streets after letters, I did thousands of it (all hand made) and sticked or sent everywhere in the world. Anyway... A day I started to do tags on stickers (it was easier and faster, and you can stick them during the day too), but the white paper label was too expensive, when you can't find it for free. At home I had this big roll of yellow vynil adhesive (??? how do you call it?) and I wrote my tag on it. I changed the name... but if you see the first 108 things still have big tags on it, I think they was very ugly. Day by day I foget the tag and the abstract shape became the most important thing. these shapes are 100% abstract, but I really like slugs, stones, roots so you can see these influences on it. About the number 108, It’s an holy number for induists/krishna and really important in eshotherism too. I'm really in these kind of stuff. It's divisible for 3; 3 is my favourite number. The singles numbers 1 - 0 - 8 have great meanings too. The shapes of the numbers was awesome: a line, a circle and two circles or two point. 108 is the perfect name. There are not "true" message on my art. First of all you can find my uncounscious, a lot of times I understand it after years, sometimes a never understand it. I like when people don't understand it and start to imagine things. Who did it? What's it? What it menas? Fantasy is the most important thing in life, in a way I want to make people thinking and imagine things... maybe they have a little way to escape from this sad world.
3. Is there any other media's you like to work in artistically apart
from street art?
I like to make hand made stuff allways. I do canvasses, drowings, sometimes sculptures, I did a lot of comics, sometimes I write stuff too, I play in some bands and expecially I have a noise - electronic project called LARVA it's strictly related to 108. I like to work on my bicycles, changing parts and more... At the moment I did grafic artworks/layouts as job.
4. How important do you feel travelling is to your work? How do the
scenes in other countries compare to that of the home in Italy? (could you talk
more in depth about places you have painted in , what writers you've
met etc..)
I think travelling is one of the best thing. I love travelling by trains, I had a lot of great (some bad too also) experience on it. I have an irrational fear about flying. I hope in future to have money and time enough for traveling as much as possible. I allways found the biggest influences in different paces. I love landscapes. About the other countries... I love EUROPE! I think about myself as an european not as an italian. I love the fact everywhere people and places are so different and so similar. I'm really afraid of the idea of a new Europe... they want to destroy our histories and make a sad place everywhere the same markets, the same brands, like USA. I don't like this idea. I met a lot of great artists everywhere, in France, Germany, Holland.......... Everywhere! I like Italy for his history, for the places. I'm usually disappointed about people... I think there are really great people here, usually they are unknown. When we talked about art, after Futurism I can't find a true italian movement... I don't know. Here people looks allways to the USA and try to copy it. For fininding good stuff you have to go on small places and searching for lonely unknown people. In the end I can tell you that I'm a little misanthropist and I'm not the right guy to ask about Italy, I travelled a lot just on northern Italy or in Europe, I'm sorry!
5. What methods do you use when putting up your work in the street? Is
it only stickers you us, or other things? What do you feel is the
most effective and why?
Usually I use adhesive paper or spray cans. I use this kind of stuff because are the faster ways. Usually I do it when I use spray cans (obviously) and I did it at home when I do stickers/posters/cardborads/sculptures... I stick most of them, but I sent them to friends everywhere too. I did a lot of things on 3D too (sculptures?). People call my things "stickers" I think it's ok, for being quckly but it's not the right thing... I don't know how to explane my feelings about it. The best way to express myself are brushes and colors, I like dirty things, but usually I'm too lazy.
* I don't like that word (as "post graffiti, writing, aerosol art, ecc...), sometimes I use it to escape from long discussions... anyway, ...I think about myself exactly as one of the old men who make graffiti on the caves or all the people who did it during the history. So, I want to do what I like to do. I think the most important thing in graffiti, is that you do public stuff. Not art caged in galleries, so it's so stupid to follow some senseless rules.
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