What do they know that we don’t?
Is your favorite Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”?
I think it’s more a voice of optimism. To me it’s pretty much not to take things too seriously, and to keep looking at the world in an optimistic way.
That’s so funny. I actually have to say that my favorite Beatles song is all of the Magical Mystery Tour. Specifically that instrumental piece “Flying.”
So I’m assuming, just from your work such as “Royaume Nous Grandirons Ensemble”, that you speak French?
What direction do you see yourself going in next? I know since you were on tour you had to bring a lot of prints that you could carry from place to place, but do you see yourself doing larger, installation-type work?
I don’t speak French well. A lot of the French that I’ve written in my work is because I’ve worked so closely with a French audience and Sixpack. And I’ve always been a fan of works that are in other languages. I’m not really one that’s big on making literal comments on current events, but [Un Royaume] is definitely a comment on the general state of affairs, just the general war and all that stuff, it’s loosely based on that. “One kingdom, we should grow together” - it’s definitely up for interpretation but it’s a loose, loose comment on that. It seems like a lot of your work does talk about this idea of community, or one world. Do you feel that kind of sense of community in LA? Compared to New York, Los Angeles doesn’t seem to have that much of a close-knit feel, but do you feel like you have that sort of artistic community? Yeah, Los Angeles is a very, very strange city compared to New York and to all the different cities that we traveled around to. But I think that once you find your place and meet the right people that it can become something special. You find your niche within the context of this bigger metropolitan, sprawling city. The concept of exploring this social connectivity and community is an ongoing theme that I’ve explored, specifically over the last couple years, and it speaks definitely beyond the Los Angeles area. But as far as the artistic community here, by nature of making things and making art and imagery, a lot of my friends and a lot of the people that I hang out with are very much a part of the art community, and they’re into show openings and openings at the Family Bookstore and various galleries around town. If you could do cover art for any novel or film what would it be? Film, it would definitely be The Adventures of Baron Munchausen by Terry Gilliam. I just watched that movie and just freaked out. And then I’ve been reading a lot of famous American literature, like really classic American literature, and I think a novel would be The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
We’re working on this show in Los Angeles. It’s going to be at Subliminal Projects, Shepard Fairey’s gallery. It’s going to be a lot of the prints from the “Our Mountain” show, but we’re adding on. Justin’s creating a bunch of work and we’re going to bring the teepee in there and then we’re going to create a couple more pieces. I also just finished several apparel graphics with Michael Leon of Commonwealth Spec. He’s artdirecting for Nike skateboarding, so I just designed a couple T-shirts for Nike Skateboarding. I’m working with the guys over at Kid Robot on a bunch of random three-dimensional pieces. And then I’m doing some skateboard graphics for Habitat Skateboards. Those Element skateboards are out, and then we are reissuing them for the states in new color waves, and then we’re going to release them on contemporary board shapes as well, so they’ll be skateable. And then I’m just excited because I released that solo book, so I’m working on getting several distributors. If we were to take the teepee and those bed sheets on a camping trip is there any place you’d recommend? I’d recommend that you go to “Our Mountain”. But definitely something very spacey, at night, where you can see a lot of stars. For more information on Steven and his work visit www.stevenharrington.com Interview by Caitling Anne Parker & Alex S. Plapinger Photos and art work courtesy of Steven Harrington