Overground
Overground is the second of three graffiti books, published by Dokument Forlag (distributed in the UK by Art Books International), that I’m reviewing at the moment. The first was They Call Us Vandals, which I really enjoyed (as you will have seen if you’ve had a chance to read the review). First of all I have to say that this book is fairly similar to They Call Us Vandals. However, this isn’t a negative point; in fact, there’s no reason at all not to continue along this interesting path of graff writer interviews and profiles of their lives and work. This time it’s dedicated to 9 Scandinavian artists; Anccw, Egs, Ikaroz, Kegr, Maes, Mr Muncho, Phily, Rilo and Tele. What an interesting bunch they are too!
Ance kicks off the show with graffiti’s history from his viewpoint. He discusses his inspirations, his mentors and his style (and how it developed). It’s all very open and honest and you really get the feeling that you’re sitting and listening to him as the stories unfold. What I love most about the first chapter is the discussion at the end where his pieces are analysed. It’s great to read about techniques and styles and exactly what they meant back in the day when these graff writers started out. Once I got to the next chapters I was a little disappointed to see that this painting analysis wasn’t present any more. That’s also what’s really nice about this book though; it’s doesn’t feel like it’s being held down by a rigid format. It’s a nice loose read and each interview and profile are quite different. Sometimes it’s the writer’s behaviour that’s analysed, sometimes it’s their lifestyle and sometimes it’s their work. It all makes for an interesting book. There are also plenty of non-graff photos present too. Ikaroz’s sketches spring to mind here. There’s a direct parallel to his graff within his non-graff work though and his pieces are fantastically abstract and original. It could be worth the asking price for his chapter alone. Tele is another writer who’s work looks really abstract in places. His chapter looks great and is a partial departure from hardcore graff. Many of his pieces are poster and simple text based; a definite highlight in the book.
I guess it’s naive of me but the diversity of the the writers attitudes and personalities is incredible. These range from people like Kegr, who is more than open about his parallel criminal activities (mainly the theft of painting equipment) to Egs being a law abiding citizen (outside of his graffiti writing crimes) and art director. I guess these are the polar opposites but I would have thought that the opposites would have been somewhat closer together. Speaking of Kger, there are some great photos of some of his whole train pieces spanning double pages. It’s difficult to comprehend how one or two artist can cover such a huge area without getting caught. Kger also shows some great rooftop pieces that span over multiple apartment blocks. Actually, writing about his work makes me realise that his chapter is a cut above the rest. He’s certainly a character with lots of discipline and is very experimental. He discusses painting with his left hand (while his right hand was broken) and reverse painting etc. I like all that stuff.
Somewhere in the middle of Overground Egs describes what good graffiti should do, “It stands out, scares, and is bold, big and very visible”. Well this book is full of this kind of thing and won’t disappoint anyone interested in the scene. Overground is soft cover, it 23cm x 28cm and it weighs in at 176 pages. The standard portrait format also makes Overground more bathtime reading friendly than They Call Us Vandals too! So, this marks the end of the second part of the three reviews. One left to do…and what a cracker the last book is. Stay tuned.