Art Crimes Interview with Posh by Brett Webb (1998)

How long have you been writing?

9 years.

How'd you get started?

I started when I was shacked up in Santa Barbara.

A friend of mine had Spraycan Art and Subway Art on his bookshelf. I took a peek, liked what I saw, and he broke down writing to me. I didn't know anything about it at the time, except what I saw on the walls in LA. He wrote "Cisco".

He gave me the basics...but that was about it.

The first "real" writers I met from LA were Clae BC Crew and Kex also BC Crew. Clae got up and always got the best spots in Santa Barbara. Kex taught me how to make a "stencil tip" long before I ever could use one. I just started using them about a year ago for some detailing.

Who brought you up?

Ares pushed me to bomb. He moved up to SB and lived with me for a while. He was a good partner.

Skate1 was really the one who schooled me though. Most of what I believe about graf and how it should be done..I learned from him. He always had time to school the kids and realized this was the only way to pass on what we know to the next generation.

Drew schooled me on the piecing side of things. He pushed me to do 3Ds, Inner-outlines, background, and concepts. He and Mek really pushed not only me, but all of LA to do harder pieces.

Axis has pushed me a lot to do better backgrounds and characters.

What crews do you represent and what do they mean to you?

I'm in CBS, BTP, and LORDS crews.

CBS was the first really big crew I got into. At the time ('91) there weren't too many other crews in LA that a kid would want to be from. AWR and UTI are the others I can think of. It was a serious honor.

BTP was a bombing crew that me, Chalk (now writes Jones-FlyID Crew) and Ache put together in Santa Barbara. We were all the best (and only) writers, so it was natural to form up. You had to do throw-ups and illegal pieces to get in.

With Meeks, Ole, Vox and Epic, Orange County, California

What is the main thing you try to accomplish with your writing?

Original concepts. I try to convey ideas.

You're always talking about concepts, what do you mean, and how do you come up with them? What are the best ones you've done?

A "concept" is something that sends a message. It's definitely not about preaching (yelling the message loud in someone's face)..it's more hidden in the actual piece of art.

I come up with them by looking at the world around me. TV, books, and word-play.

Just a couple examples...

We did this one production that was all these bunkers with pieces on them. We did barbed wire, Vaughn Bode lizards dressed in Nazi uniforms, and a Volkswagen from World War II. The idea was that the bunkers got "bombed" and no matter how many tanks, guns, and planes the Nazis put up...we're gonna keep painting. It basically says that if they just let us paint on the wall to begin with it would be art, but because we have to take extreme measures to still paint it's a form of terrorism. We never wrote the words "police" or "cop" anywhere on the mural, but the cops knew what we were saying with this one..and threatened the store owner until he buffed it.

We did a butterfly collection in San Francisco one time. We made a butterfly case out of the background and made the pieces look like butterflies pinned to it. The idea was that people collect photos of pieces and consider them beautiful...just like butterflies.

What about the ants?

The ants are probably the best concept that I ever brought to graffiti. I'm really into insects and the ant is really symbolic of a lot of things.

Ants do what they are programmed to do and never question their individuality. People are definitely becoming ants. We don't question why we root for sports teams on which we don't know one person, and often aren't even from our city or state. We don't question why we go to work to make someone else's money. We don't question why we're sitting in traffic waiting and waiting to get home.

The worker ant never questions his existence and says "Hey, today I'm going to be a soldier ant or a queen ant". They just exist.

The act of doing graffiti is the opposite of this to me. When I paint it basically says..."I'm sick of being a worker ant...look at me..I'm an artist ant, and I'm different."

I did a piece one time of my name, but the fill was an "ant farm". I think that the world is basically one big ant farm. Once we've ate all the food and built all the tunnels (buildings) we can, we're going to all die and what we've built is going to collapse. (Just like an "ant farm").

Tell me more about the robots. I started noticing the robots awhile back, they were immediatly recognizable and I knew that I had to meet the person that was doing them! What inspired the robots and what are you trying to do with them?

Thanks.

I play a lot of wargames, video games, and I used to play with tons of toy tanks, ships, and all that shit. A regular GI Joe junky. All of that is stored away in my head. I'm fascinated with man's need to make bigger and better death machines. Also, they are symbolic of the graff war we're all a part of. After all...it's called "Bombing".

I paint each one from scratch (no sketch) and make sure that each is different. That's starting to get tough though...I've done so many of them. Because they are two color and improvisational, they're quick and easy. Good for the down and dirty spots where I don't have much time or don't want to put too much planning into it.

Are you in it for fame, or do you paint for yourself?

Both. I wouldn't paint on walls that people could see if I didn't like the fame. Anyone who says that they "paint for themselves and no one else" is lying, or they'd be painting in a backyard.

Has your job in the video game industry helped your writing and/or has your writing helped you on the job?

They definitely feed off each other. I plan projects at work, and I plan productions for walls.

Who are your favorite/influential writers?

Shoe (Amsterdam), Cat22 (Amsterdam), Charlie (LA), Drew (LA), Mr. Element (San Francisco) and of course most of all Skate1 (RIP).

What writers are doing a good job these days?

I love the "stunt" writers in LA. My belly sticks out a little too much to be hanging from shit(and I'm not sure I'd do it even if I was small), so I have the utmost respect for these kids.

Saber, Ayer, Ozie, and Use.

Some other kids who aren't as crazy, but have skills....Gas, Ole, Drugs, Moses, and Prae.

What do you think of LA writing these days as compared to how it was?

I remember when people had to go over each others pieces on the 101 in Hollywood. Take a look at the walls now (buffed every day)....'nuff said.

There were also 8 yards at any given time running....take a look at how many yards are running now (none)....'nuff said.

What do you think of mags, videos and the internet?

Mixed feelings. I've seen a lot of kids "come-up" because they put out a mag or a video and put a ton of their stuff in it.

But, it's also been a cool networking tool. The reason that kids in Florida are linked with kids in NYC who are linked with kids in Cincinnati is directly related to the magazines. We all know each other, because we saw a flick in a mag, and not because we've ever been to Miami.

Any advice to the youngsters?

Yeah...get back to the real meaning of crews. Kids are changing crews faster than they change their underwear. They also are willing to be in a lot of crews. Make sure when you get down with people that you are doing it for the right reasons. If it's a "power move" then forget about it.

Also, pass on what you know to the younger kids. Always be looking for new kids to bring up. That is what keeps this shit alive.

Is there anything that you want to do with writing that you haven't done yet?

I want to do the biggest robot characters in the world, and I want to hit a subway.

What does the future hold for you in writing, and in writing in general?

Writing is looking bad right now in Cali. They're cracking down everywhere, and it's even tough to get legal spots even if you want them.

I'll always be down to jump fences, rush abandoned warehouses and drainage ditches. And when I'm old and my walker won't make it over the fence, I'll have my homies help me out.

Everyone is still dedicating pieces to Sk8 and always putting him up. Was it just that he always took time with kids that made everyone look up to him so much?

Sk8 was an incredible person that's why people still give him respect. He was a *big* person, both in size and in spirit. Shit..his graff was even big. He was a leader and not a boss if you know what I mean. He would never ask you to do anything he couldn't/wouldn't do. He understood that some people don't do freeway overhangs...but as long as they gave graff all the positive energy they could it was cool. He was like a father to many of the kids. When you walked down the street with Sk8 you felt that no one in the world could even touch you.

That's why people look up to him still to this day.

When we lost Sk8, I lost a very close friend.