solifestyle Loves A.S.V.P. Feature Interview
Q What
does A.S.V.P. stand for and why did you pick this name?
A That’s the first
thing everyone asks. We’re kind of
sworn to secrecy on this one, it’s not a bad thing, certainly nothing negative
but that’s something we decided to leave as a mystery.
Q How long have you been doing street art?
A We’ve only been at
this for a few years. My partner
and I have over 20 years of creative experience between us but we really
started making this kind of art only about 3 years ago. So we’re relatively new
to the game as A.S.V.P. but we’ve both been artistic for most of our lives.
Q What is your purpose or message, what are you trying to
get people to think about when they look at your art?
A It really all
started for us by just wanting to make things that were free of any outside
influence. We just wanted to be free and enjoy ourselves. We’re still developing our voice to be
perfectly honest. It’s a little
bit reflective of some of the Asian influence on our culture. We’re mashing up Asian and American
imagery on some level because it’s kind of a reflection of what we think is
happening in the world. We’re
trying to build hybrid images that are based on eastern and western influences
together.
Q Is there a piece of eastern or western influence that
you’re inspired by?
A We’re inspired by
retro People’s Republic of China imagery from the 80’s. The down to earth baby and the future
cop are both related to that look and feel.
Q We’re used to seeing your work in the New York area,
are you based in NYC?
A We’re based in New
York but we travel a lot, we like to show the work with as many people as
possible and it’s really inspiring to go to other places and see what’s
happening in other cities. We have
work that was posted in Zurich, Amsterdam, Hong Kong and all across the states
like in Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland.
Q Did you have a favorite city to work in or maybe a city
that was most receptive to the work?
A New York is our
home base so I guess I have a love for NY and I’m a little bit biased towards
there. But London was great and we
got a really positive response from people. So, second to NY would be London.
Q Are there certain cities where it’s easier to get away
with putting up your work?
A Yeah, I think so.
San Francisco is very liberal but the work comes down very quickly so that’s an
example where it’s easy to get up there but the lifespan of the work is very
short. It’s kind of a per case
basis, you never know what you’re going to get.
Q Does all your work happen at night?
A Most of it. There’s a lot of different theories as
to what time people go out and how you can be the most incognito but we generally
do most of our work at night.
Q Have you even gotten caught or been chased?
A Yes we have
[laughs]. It’s not fun and you’re definitely looking over your shoulder to make
sure that nothing is going to happen.
It’s just a numbers game, sooner or later you’re going to get caught but
that’s part of what we sign up for. It’s part of the game.
Q The work that you put up on the street, are those
silk-screened or do you just print them at kinkos or a copy shop?
A They’re all
totally hand made. We do it on a
lighter, thinner paper and it’s not archival but everything is hand painted,
hand silk-screened and hand cut. It’s all very analog. It’s a big part of why we started doing
this, we were working in a commercial environment and it was less and less
creative and enjoyable. We were
getting further and further away from the work on a creative level and we said:
‘how can we setup a controlled environment for us to be creative again?’ It’s really nice in the age of
computers to just do something traditional.
Q We’re always interested in understanding street art
ethics. Do you ever collaborate with other street artists or is it more of a
competition? Do you ever feel offended if people go over or change your work?
A I don’t mind at
all if someone adds to it, it’s pretty easy to tell if someone is trying to
be collaborative. To answer the question directly, it’s not a competition. It’s
certainly a competitive landscape.
It’s a game of persistence; you have to be dedicated. There’s always people that get off on
going over other people. That’s
definitely something that we do not do and we don’t like when people do it to
us. We spend a lot of time
on the work and we want it to last. It’s a game we don’t try to get involved
in. If somebody is collaborating
with us in a playful way, that doesn’t diss or obstruct our work that’s totally
cool.
Q If you knew you’d be completely safe, what would be the
ultimate building or billboard to cover in your work?
A There are so many
spots, I’ll have to get back to you on that. I really don’t know. Rather than spots, for me it’s really
more about meaning. I would love to do some work in Africa. I did some work in India and that was
really rewarding and really amazing because of the location and the people and
the experience of doing the work. For me it’s more about places rather than
spaces.
Q Do you ever work in mediums other than print, are you
moving towards galleries as well?
A Yeah, definitely.
We’re interested in doing 3D pieces and sculpture and having some conversations
surrounding that. We’re trying to
figure out how to produce these things properly, there’s a lot of research
involved. We’re really excited
because we have a show at the Black Book Gallery in Denver in September. We’re
moving toward that space.
Q Will you ever make your work available for sale?
A We have editions
that are for sale currently. All of the prints are hand silk-screened and we do
small runs. We did an edition of
25 Balaclavas and an edition of 30 Protection Girls and we have some Down to
Earth Babies and some Your’s-Trulys.
We’re working on our website now and prints will be available through
the site or people can send us an email. They usually range from $150 to $350.