‘HERE WE ARE’ MAGAZINE
‘HERE WE ARE’ MAGAZINE
XSTREETS GIRLS PAGE 4. XSTREETS BOYS PAGE 6. XSTREETS BLUEBALLS PAGE 8. XSTREETS FRIENDS PAGE 12. INTERVIEWS PAGE 14. TEMBA PAGE 18. FACES PAGE 19. WOJO’S XSTREETS PICS PAGE 20. COLLECT THE TAGS PAGE 22. XSTREETS PHOTO ALBUM PAGE 24.
‘HERE WE ARE’ MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 WINTER 2009
FREE ART FRENZY PAGE 30. BASEL TRIP BUSHIT SAYS GOODBYE
MAGAZINE MANAGER MLSS MLSS PAGE 32. ART DIRECTOR CONTRIBUTORS IVES.one, MLSS, BUSTART, ZAIRA, SHEZ, SEIFREI, ROBE, PAGE 34. SKATE, KARMA83, CFYE AND WOLFGANG JOSTEN. PICTURES FROM MLSS, SKATE, IVES.one, BUST, WOLFGANG JOSTEN, KIRVANO, CFYE, ROBE, MELISSA SCHOLTEN, MARIEKE BREED. COVER DESIGN BUSTART ‘HERE WE ARE’ MAGAZINE IS A PRODUCT FROM XSTREETS COLLECTIVE. WWW.X-STREETS.COM
KARMA83 Growing up I was shown an over abundance of love and now have an opportunity to share that with others through my street art. If someone sees something that I have done and it brings a smile to their face, it makes it that much more worth while. I firmly believe that what goes around comes around and am happy creating every day.
MLSS Since 2006 MLSS is active on graffiti and street art, but her interest for this kind of art started already in her youth. Since 2007 she is involved at the unqiue art show UmbrellART and since 2008 member of Xstreets Collective. She has done shows in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Basel, Almere, Roermond and Rome. Besides that she spraypainted live on different festivals like Rockit Open Air, Flevopark Festival, Fusion Of Dance and Upfest in Bristol. www.myspace.com/mlss1 ZAIRA She is born in 1983 in a small village in the mountains. She loves that area there. Already as a small girl she loves to paint and this passion never stopped. Her fondness is to create diffrent artwork, working with diffrent undergrounds and colors and restore old pieces of furniture. You can see her works on the streets or in diffrent exhibitions. Her device: art makes people happy!
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IVES.one IVES.one is an Amsterdam based streetartist, who started in 1996 with graffiti. Since four years he is known about his combinations of freehand and stencils. In 2000 he had is first art show in Almere at GRAFFITI OF THE WALL. In 2005 he had his first international art show in Basel (Swiss). Now he had several shows around the world. Like the show at MK gallery in Rotterdam with Shane Waltener from England. He also gets invited to paint at several intertnational festivals to show his creations. He also make big murals for commercial companies like, de Amsterdam RAI, XS4ALL internet, Police Amsterdam, ROC Amsterdam and MTV Networks. He still likes to put his art on the streets. You can see his work in the streets of several cities around the world, like Amsterdam, Basel, Brussels, Bristol and New York. Since 2 years he also works as a URBANART consultant. He gives advise to commercial companies and the government, how they can use art as a solution for their problems or questions. As a member of Xstreets collective, he is the originator of UmbrellART; an unique international art show. www.ivesone.com
Foto: Kirvano
Foto: Marieke Breed
painters) I forgot their A.KA.’s because it’s so long ago. I also met a guy who wrote Meloodee, he was also into skateboarding, and a very talented artist, he made the best Characters. Robetwo was also a skateboarder and when he quit writing the name ROBETWO, I took the name, but instead I made it into ROBEONE, I didn’t know anyone at the time who wrote this name. In 1995 I met Melodee again in Groningen at a skateboarding/writing shop called VIBES, he was close friends with MICKEY and got sponsored by the shop for his skateboarding skills. Mickey wordked at the shop and later I met QUICK(RTW) who also worked there. I was refueled with passion for this rebel art called Writing! In 1998 I moved to Amersfoort and started a crew KID (keep it deadly) and later it became KDC, me and two close friend of mine where the spill of it. I started piecing and bombing,it was great,the thrill of it all,adrenalin. In 2000 I had a burnout, I faced some demons from the past,I got some counseling, but I was in need for some group-therapy. In therapy I also did Creative-therapy and there I made my first sculpture out of Soapstone, The letter D. Thats how it all started, sculpting letters into soapstone is 3D-writing.
ROBEONE In 1987 I started with the Art of Writing (glossy/medianame Graffiti) when I was growing-up in Assen, capital of a northern provence in Holland. At age fourteen I started writing my A.K.A. TEAM. The element Writing from the Hip-Hop culture attracted me the most. I was heavy into skateboarding and everywhere I went my marker came along, the first ten years I only did TAGS, no throw-up’s In 2004 I moved to Almere and through beef with Delet alone piece’s. moner I met a lot of writers; QBUS, NASE, NEGR, GOR, I met a few local older writers Enze, Dacl. Mickey(TFP), MEAN, SPECS to name a few. Who all in a short time I Shair, Sare, Shere to name a few at the local Hall Of became my friends, some close some distent, again I Fame in Assen, they opened my eyes to this rebel art was refuelled with passion for The Art of Writing. called Writing. Later on I met some locals of my own Later through my close friend IVES.ONE, I became a age, Blaque, RobeTwo and a crew called W.S.P. (west side member of The Xstreet Collective, him and BUSTART
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are the backbone of this collective and I am proud to be SEIFREI a member of this creative force called XSTREETS COL- Seifrei, also known as Lukas Odermatt was born and LECTIVE!! raised in hell. Not much is known about his early youth. First records of him go back to the 1940’s, when he was SKATIN CHINCHILLA Was born and raised in the jungle that is Brighton, Eng- working on the German V2 rocket program as well as land and spent most summer chillin’ on the beach or on the Russian “Shagohod-Program”, a project doing hanging at the skatepark, falling on his arse. Always had research on a new battle tank that would be able to a love for graphics on skateboards and always played launch intercontinental ballistic missiles. After WWII with drawing and doodling but never really thought any- he moved to China to improve his graffiti skills. Under thing of it. It was always about skatin’ back then. After the supervision of experienced martial artists such as years of working and living in Brighton I decided it was the legendary So Hai (aka the “Drunken Master”) or the time for a change and picked up, packed up and got the Lizard & the Toad, both members of the Poison Clan, fudge out of there, and moved to the wonderful city Am- he developed his unique stencil style. After a while he sterdam in 2006. I noticed more and more cool stickers moved on to Korea, where he fought for the North. At on every corner and started to take pictures of them. Af- the battle of Heartbreak Ridge he destroyed six B-52 ter a while hunting for the stickers and street art wasn’t bombers with his telepathic skills. After that gorgeous fulfilllin’ my needs and I wanted more. So towards the strike against the American devils, his traces were lost. end of the year I started to make my own stickers with In late 1985, he survived a thermonuclear assault perstencils. After this I was hooked and wanted to make formed by mechatronics that he had designed and sold stuff bigger then just stickers so I took to paste-ing and to militant kaukasian rebels. Seifrei got contaminated, drawing characters in places. In the beginning of 2008 which forced him to move to Shadow Moses island, Alaska, to perform a therapy involving the injection of I was introduced to IVES.one and MLSS and started to nano machines to regain his physical and psychologipaint more with these guys. I was asked to go on a trip cal strength. The process was accompanied by serious to Basel for a small show and meet BUSTart and Zaira side effects which caused mutation of most parts of his where we all made a good connection, and I was asked brain and an accelerated metabolism for some organs to join the Xstreets Collective. For the rest of 2008 I was observed. He survived and in the early 90’s he was started more with stencils of women, as we all love na- a leader of the discovered NATO stay-behind armies all ked ladies, and have been trying to devolope them more over Europe and had to escape to Neuschwabenland, and more each time to make then my own. I have stuff where he still lives sometimes. Since then he invented in a few places over the world now, but not enough. I some new diseases for the pharmaceutical industries will not stop till I get an Evil Steve and a naked lady on and accomplish terrorist attacks all over the world for several governments to broadcast fear, confusion and as many street corners I can. other negative feelings which helped the governments to manipulate the peoples opinion. According to NATO officials, Seifrei was last seen in summer 2009 in Zanzibarland together with Nikola Tesla. Rumours say that he is working in an abandoned Soviet underground laboratory near Grozni Grad together with the Xstreets Collective on a new project creating major TIME/PARADOXONs.
and days for a project without any care of daytime or wetter, of cause I still spend much time to make art for free on the streets. But I also like to make someone BUSTART happy with my art or just watching the visitors of my exhibitions. I don’t care if people declair me as an artist BUSTART was born in the early 80’s. The idea was to or not, to create is a part of my life and the future is create a serious, friendly, young man; but that mission mine.” failed. In the age of six he found some XL eddings and SHEZ start to redesign the whole Kindergarten. In the age of eight he found some spraycans in the trash and shares Shez growed up in Germany. Already in young age he again his meanings with other people. The result of both did his first graffiti. He was always interested in the actions was a red arse, but not only BUSTART knows this wild letters, the colors and the whole spirit wich you was just the beginning of a lifestyle. can only feel when you are part of it. Shez moved to Basel (Swiss). There he was really inspired of the After hanging around with Spiderman, collecting footwhole scene. He start drawing all day and night long. ballstickers and looking around for the first kiss he joined After his first walls he met BUSTART. Together they did the urban art school. The first seven years he learned all hundreds of walls. In the beginning he learned from kind of graffiti technics. After this time he sitt together other people but already after one year it was up to with the gouvernment to discuss some diffrence. In the the others to learn from Shez. Today he is one of the end both were happy, BUSTART still goes on with his most active writers from Basel. He gets invitations art and the gouvernment has still something to do. But from graffiti jams all over Europe and joined Xstreets BUSTART recognized that most people can not handle Collective as a Xstreets painter in 2009. graffiti because they don’t understand it. So the reaction was to create artwork in the streets which is easy to understand. He fell in love with all kind of technics and materials. In his various guerilla art he wants to play with the mind of the visitor in his own way. It is up to him to make you happy or sad when you see the work. This is exact what he wants. Since three years he has always his special dog with him. he place some smaller and bigger dogs where ever he was. The reason to do this is to get part of the place, not to leave it after a while. Some dogs die young, some gets old, some gets friends, some stay alone. Wherever you see a dog you know you are not alone. The last few years BUSTART brings his idea and feeling also on canvas or other items which he can design ‘inside’. For him it is total diffrent work: “I can spend hours
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www.cfye.com
In the summer of 2009 the Swiss members of Xstreets Collective were part of the Blueballs Festival in Luzern. The music festival Blueballs is the biggest festival in Switzerland. More than 100.000 people visited the two weeks during festival. International artists like Seal, Gary Moore, Candy Dulfer, Colbie Caillat, David Gray, Joss Stone and others were performing.
Xstreets showed live their art skills and painted 8 walls with a total length of 60 meter. Visiters saw the beautiful paintings developed during the entire festival. The organisation was more than happy with the result, and invited Xstreets to be part of the festival again in 2010.
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KAYMIR AND ARDEN (CFYE) Except being the founders of cfye.com, Kaymir Stark (24) and Arden de Raaij(24) are also active as photographers. Both self-taught, they don’t work with conventional rules or traditions but choose their own ways. Kaymir preferably shoots analogue with the Pentax Super ME as main weapon of choice and Arden shoots all digital. Together they try and deliver a healthy mix of analogue and digital photography. http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaymir http://www.flickr.com/photos/ardenswayoflife
WOLFGANG JOSTEN Hello my name is wojo. In 2002 I bought my first digital camera and started documenting streetart in Amsterdam. Stickers took my special attention. I discoverd stickernation on the internet and started uploading photos to that site.That were more than 2000 photos. But stickernation got hacked and disappeared from the net. Soon I found another site for my streetart photos. That was artincities (www.artincities.com). I uploaded another 2000+ photos to aic. But there was little response and after two years I stopped with it. Then Flickr came. Since three years I upload almost daily photos to my Flickr photostream. I try to catch some of everyday life in Amsterdam and always keeping my eyes open for all the streetart. And yes,i am making stickers too! www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangjosten
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ad CFYE
WOLFGANG JOSTEN Age: 18+ Hometown: Amsterdam Your style: streetphotography, stickerart How dit you came up with your style? Just looking around, getting inspiration and keep on trying. Do you have a special message? Peace and respect! inspirations? Citylife, streetlife, streetart... Other interests? Subculture 3 things you like: reggae music, asian food, streetart spotting 3 things you dont like: neo nazies, harddrugs, materialism Last words: Do your own thing...! ARDEN DE RAAIJ Age: 24 Hometown: Amsterdam Your style: Ever changing How dit you came up with your style? Through a progress of self-learning. Do you have a special message? No, it’s to the viewer to interpretate, I just give what I have. Inspirations? My family Other interests? Photography, street art, bringing people together. 3 things you like: Sunshine, Coffee, the Simpsons 3 things you dont like: Cold, olives, politics Last words: Enjoy!
MLSS Age: 24 Hometown: Amsterdam Your style: Colourfull art, streetart & graffiti How did you came up with your style: I’ve got inspired when I moved to Amsterdam and got injected with al that beautiful art and wnat to be part of that. Do you have a special message? Everybody can be creative in a way, just go for it and believe in yourself. Inspirations: Music, art & people Other interests: Photography, snowboarding and culture 3 things you like: Photography books, sushi and goldfishes 3 things you don’t like: Rain, stress & war Last words: Smile, and be happy. SKATIN CHINCHILLA Age: Old befor my time. Hometown? Brighton city Your style? Naked ladies and angry men, just get loose and try new shit. How did you come up with your style? It’s just what I like to draw and stencil, it’s all about development. Do you have a special message? Nothing out the ordinary. Inspirations? Anything! Other interests? Movies, cartoons, to much stuff really. 3 things you like? Spain, fry-ups and herb. 3 things you dont like? Lots of people, flying and run-
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ning I out of herb. Last words? Don’t work on your day off. IVES.one Age: ? Hometown: Amsterdam Your style: freehand and stencil How dit you came up with your style? I had a dream! Do you have a special message? Life is to short. so enjoy every moment. Inspirations? The streets and my inner crazyness. Other interests? Photography, BMX and football. 3 things you like: Amsterdam, travelling and party with my mates. 3 things you dont like: negative persons, politics and peeps who cross streetart. Last words: Enjoy the visions streetartists bring to the streets, it’s art in your daily life. Respect it like a Van Gogh in a museum. It is to simple to say it’s vandalism, ‘cause we take our time and effort to make our or your city a bit more special and beautiful. KAYMIR STARK Age: 24 years Hometown: Amsterdam Your style: I don’t believe I have a particular style, I just shoot photos, it’s up to the people to interpreted that array of colors as an striking image (or not). How did you came up with your style? It’s a gut feeling, in daily life I tend to over think and analyze everything
around me. But when I am out shooting it’s just me and my camera. An automated process that starts with my eyes and ends with me pushing down the shutter will take place, and before I even know it I’ve captured that special moment in time on film. Do you have a special message? Embrace your creativity and be your own best friend. Create new dreams as that will give you the energy to continue. Inspirations? My surroundings. Other interests: Architecture / Interior design, the proper use of fabric and materials combined with design. Music, making collage art, Me and my girl Kim (you rock baby!) have a camera addiction, our collection is reaching 70 vintage camera’s (all working). Old electronics (I like levers and dials). 3 things you like: Being creative, people and life in general. 3 things you don’t like: As from today I decided that negative thoughts are irrelevant and is costing me to much energy. Last words: The vehicle is more important then the destination. ZAIRA Age: 26 Hometown: Behind the mountains. Your style: What ever goed on in my mind. How dit you came up with your style? I always love to paint and I still love it. Do you have a special message? Yes.
ters, but my drawing skills were too bad, discovered Inspirations? Everything! stencils, fell in love with them... Other interests? Almost everything. 3 things you like: Cats, the flavour when itrain on hot Do you have a special message: Be free (sei frei) of any kind of negative feelings. streets and color. Inspirations: Everyday regular normal life. 3 things you dont like: Liars, the cold and no time. Other interests: Too many to mention here. Last words: Enjoy it! 3 things you like: Sleeping in bed while it`s raining outside, tolerance, conspiracy theories. BUSTART 3 things you hate: Ignorance, right wing media propaAge: Forever young. ganda, indifference, but who cares. Hometown: Basel (Swiss) Last words: Sei frei. Your style: Graffiti, streetart, graphic design. How dit you came up with your style? Learning by doing, fall in love with graffiti as a child. impressed by other artists I start with stencil art. Today I mix all kind KARMA83 Age: 23 of techniques and materials. Hometown: Where to begin...? Do you have a special message? Most of the time. Your style? Bright, colourful and created with a lot of Inspirations? Just life. love. Other interests? Sometimes... 3 things you like: The smell of night, Southpark, Col- How did you come up with your style? Drawing every minute possible, and still developing. lecting art. 3 things you dont like: Ignorant people, tomatoes and Do you have a special message? Always remember the Rule of 3. waiting. Inspirations: People, life, the world, the good, the bad... Last words: Reclaim the streets! Other interests: Reading, poetry, clothes, writing. 3 things you like? Music, laughter and chocolate. SEIFREI 3 things you dont like? The dark, spiders and inconsidAge: Current age of Gandhi and J.R. Tolkien erate people. Hometown: Agglo Basel Last words? What goes around Comes around. Your style: Stencils How did you came up with your style? Started with graffiti, not wanted to make only styles, also charac
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SHEZ Age: 26 Hometown: Somewhere in Germany Your style? 100% graffiiti. How did you come up with your style? It’s all about learning by doing, the style came with years. Do you have a special message? Not a special one, love it or leave it. Inspirations: I get inspirations of almost everything. It’s all about colors and style. Other interests: No. 3 things you like? Having a good time with the guys, fatcaps and my lady. 3 things you dont like? Wet walls, running out of caps and cops. Last words? Open your mind, and your ass will follow you. ROBEONE Age: 36 Hometown: ? Your style? Gothic, blocks, kubism, Transform and a bit of IconClastPanzerism. How did you come up with your style? Years and years of practice,through trial and error,heavy sketching in blackbooks. Do you have a special message? “Practice makes Perfect“, “Ubung Macht den Meister“ and “Never give up!“ Inspirations: Family, friends, Old Skool Writers from New York, Paris, Amsterdam, The Founding Fathers of
the Writing culture so to speak and everyday life. Other interests: Skateboarding culture, all The Masters of Art and Street Art from the Past and Present. 3 things you like? Respect, Honesty, Nature. 3 things you dont like? Disrespect, Dishonesty, Lies. Last words? I have Love for all People,but I Hate what People do!
The Temba Festival is a three days during music festival in Weil am Rhein. Xstreets Collective was invited to create a wall there in August 2009. It was free to do for the artists to paint whatever the want. The idea was to do a live painting, so the visiters get a connection to street art.
This project was supported by the Carhartt gallery in Weil, which is the biggest urban art gallery from Europe. Once again the organisation was impressed by the work and booked the painters from Xstreets already for 2010.
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While everyone was tucked up in bed or enjoying the Cop: “Well, why do you have a camera on the bike. I dont last few hours of the evening, three Xstreets members do that. Its not normal.” were frenzily cycling around dropping Free Art all over Ives.One: “We’re not normal.” the city of Amsterdam. And so it continued for a little while, Skatin Chinchilla They began in the red light district, taking a frantic tour pretty oblivious and content with fixing the camera on in and around the alley ways and streets. They barely had the front of the bakfiets, Karma83 bricking it slightly time to leave the second drop when some lucky passer and Ives.one craftily making the very large police officer by grabbed the opportunity to take it. Five more lucky sound incredibly ignorant without him even knowing. people had their picture taken with their new found art. After checking details and, to their disappointed, findFor some it was a little more difficult to understand the ing no warrants out for their arrests they were free to concept that they could actually take the art with no continue the free art frenzy. strings attached:) If you were out that night or on your way to work in the They generated a lot of interest and in particular the morning and you found our art, check out the footage Cops seemed to want to know what was going on. and you’ll understand how it got there and why it was a Cop: “We have been informed that you are acting sus- great Xstreets Free Art Frenzy! picously.” Ives.One: “What is suspicious?” www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLPI4uoAgKI
12,12 -
2009
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-2010
Thursday - Sunday
13:00- 18:00
0 0 : 0 2 0 0 : 6 1 9 0 . 2 1 . 2 1 : g n i n e iB g Op Visit the expo by appointment
xstreetz@gmail.com
In just a short flight four Amsterdam based Xstreets members ventured from Amsterdam to Basel in Switzerland to visit our buddies Bustart, Zaira, Shez and Seifrei and enjoy a jam packed painting and creative week. The rain that was promised did not start and we were blessed with beautiful sunshine every day. The day after we arrived we painted at the special Schänzli Jam where we knocked out a wall that was ‘picture’ perfect, had great music, great atmosphere and awesome people. Big thanks to the Rappartment for the music and the breakdancers for their wicked performance. Every day brought either a new day painting or successfully and unsuccessfully printing T-shirts. after many many attempts and a few mishaps it wont be long before they come to a store near you. You can also spot the shirts in the ABC Treehouse till the 31st of January 2010. A holiday where we could paint every day, drink beer, chill out with friends and create some awesome pieces of work, seems to fit just about right as the perfect holiday trip.
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5.-euros before 00:00 4.-euros after 00:00 Special treat if you enter before 00:00
: p u e n i L
mp3live.nl
near Spui
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Advanced Nutrients...