8 Apr
Mini Mini 4×4 from Spraygraphic on Vimeo.
The Spraygraphic.com community presents their Mini Mini 4×4 show. Produced by Hoisted Sail.
I participated in this event a few weeks back. I”ll upload a couple of pictures of my contributions in a bit.
26 Mar
twice in my life have i found myself in a time/space where everything was right.i could check the exif file to find out what day of the week it was, but the ones and zeroes don’t matter. the five of us present do.
a cramped convertible made us uncomfortably comfortable with one another. california was gracious enough to lend us her weather for the afternoon. we came for the library but left for the train museum by way of the unexpected shuttle. when our feet touched sidewalk again, we let them lead. our hearts followed close behind.
it was made up of more than the art house where we found ourselves wondering. and i’m certain that i could retrace those steps and not feel that way again. blue skies and green grass have never had that affect on me before regardless of how silent i remain as i lie somewhere betwixt the two. Mr. Paparazzo himself would be unable to capture the wonder of it all no matter which lens he chose to shoot us through.
maybe it was the generic gummy bears and our wind swept hair-do’s as we listened to stephen jenkins seeming commentary on our day that were the cause of it all.
twice
i remember the second time fortune smiled on me. i walked up a pile of steps in the unfortunate part of town.
low level lighting peeled the paint from the walls as i secondhanded some half a pack. i came ready to participate in the liturgy of rock and roll. i’d been to many services offered by many different denominations always a willing participant, always happy to be a part of what was happening before me. regardless of how well i could recite my verse-chorus-verse scripture, i had never felt like this before. the clergyman was a travelling knife salesman from arkansas who breathed life itself into that tired building. and as the maytag percussioin matched the beating of my heart, i heard the music that the angels do ringing loud and clear.
and all i could think about was how much i wanted to live and die in this room. how i imagined my bride floating on the hardwood floor in my future. everything was right. time/space had found me with my guard down, naked and unable to absorb.
as i headed back down that flight of stairs, i couldn’t help but wonder if i was descending jacob’s ladder or the stairway to heaven. it didn’t really matter. no tired cliche was ever going to be enough. every color bled that night as i tried to hold on to the vapor of the time/space.
i don’t know when or where it will find me again but, i’ll spend the rest of my life looking for moments full of this drive thru mysticism. moments to help me remember that we’re all woven from the same piece of fabric.
24 Mar
Citgo
Citgo is the creative imaginative taskforce that occupies so very much of my waking hours. We’ve got some exciting campaigns in the works. Here’s a couple stikcers I’ve doodled. Perhaps I’ll make some available for download.
Here’s a brief primer on my involvement with the group. Citgo started as a graffiti organization in the 213 (Los Angeles) region of California. There is still an active presence in LA. My friend Serb (graffiti name) aka Robot aka Kapow aka Rockit moved to Arizona and carried the Citgo name with him. The Arizona chapter of Citgo has only four full fledged members and one associate. Between the four of us, we’ve got screen printing, can control, stick ups, letter form, poster work, wheat pasting and throw ups as a list of services we provide to the community.
I’m an advocate for graffiti because I’m an advocate for equality. It should be stated here that I’m a bit of an anarchist. I’m not really a fan of capitalism. It’s frustrating to me that everywhere we turn, we’re being told to buy something. That we need more shit in order to be complete. That our quality of life will be increased as we stockpile more stuff. I don’t believe it. And I want other people to really consider if they believe it too.
You can buy just about anything in America. You can buy food. Shelter. Clothing. Pleasure. Drugs. Sex. Power. Influence. Justice. Convenience. Immediacy. Distractions. Intimacy. You can even buy a voice. In fact, if you want a voice, you damn well better be able to pay for it.
Billboards are everywhere. Newspapers are full of advertising. Commercials fill the airwaves. Advertisements pop up on your web browser. Money is being exchanged on all sides. Somewhere, somehow, someone is trying to convince you that you need their product or service. And you can have it. For a price.
And that’s all well and good. We need each other. We need to fill our lives with something.
I’m just not so convinced that we’re buying the right things. Or that we should be paying for it with paper. That we should exchange our time and energy as part of a cog in a giant machine so that we can accumulate a little bit of money in the hopes that we can buy the quality of life that we’re looking for.
Fuck that. No thank you.
And so I write. With markers. Pens. Pencils. Paint. Ink. On stickers. On stop signs. On bathroom walls. On fast food drive thru menus. On newspaper stands. On sides of buildings. On buses. On benches. In daylight. At night. Whatever. Whenever. Wherever.
I go by a lot of different names. Malt. Wer. Knes. Erse. Daam. Expo. Bliss. Blah. Ersendaam. My identity isn’t what’s important here. Getting you to think is what matters to me.
And so I write. Do Not Be Afraid. Live Free. Ask Questions. Dream Big. Try Honesty. Examine Everything. Kill Your TV. Read a Book. Feed the Hungry. Take Only What You Need.
And for the time being, it’s sloppy. Primal. Vandalistic in nature. And i don’t mind. I’ll stab the beast in its belly. The risk of arrest and fines is well worth the opportunity to have a voice. Even if it’s just a whisper. Even if it’s buffed out. Painted over. Covered up. Erased. Taken Down. At least I know that for a moment, somebody encountered a message that made them think for a brief second that maybe we’ve got this thing all wrong.
But Ambitions are brewing. I’m coming for you billboards. With campaigns. With ideas. With giant posters and buckets of wheatpaste. Keep your eyes open so you can buy what you’re told to. Or look the other way and see a broken world that you can have a hand in fixing.
Citgo
Capitalism is the Greatest Offender
Cause I Tried Getting Over
Canvas in the Great Outdoors
Creating Images the Gods Ordained.
© 2012 Ersendaam. All Rights Reserved.
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