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| MINT | ||||||||||
| SERF* | ||||||||||
| “Autograf is not the average graffiti book. In graffiti, you always want to meet the next big writer and know what he or she looks like. This book captures all that through great photography.” —SERF & MINT SERF, born in 1979 in Brooklyn, and MINT, born in 1978 in Moscow, are writers who have combined their passion for graffiti to create 1134nyc—a marketing company that comprises a collective of artists and designers including GOAL and HEILS, working together to establish an understanding of graffiti through a series of projects with cutting-edge companies including Mass Appeal magazine, Neverstop Records, ALIFE, Stuck on Earth Productions, The London Police, MissBehave, Warp magazine, and Beautiful Decay magazine, among others. From product placement and guerilla marketing to art exhibitions and editorial photo shoots, 1134nyc aims to rebrand graffiti and challenge the public’s (mis)perception of it. SERF and MINT got into graffiti when they were very young growing up in Brooklyn. “You couldn’t go anywhere without being enticed to do it yourself,” says MINT, recalling the D.I.Y. ethos that has inspired many a graffiti writer to learn the art of writing on walls. “Growing up in the late 80s-early 90s meant that you had to have a tag, no matter how bad it was. When you are young, you don’t get a chance to go to fine art museums, so the street opened its doors and showed us contemporary art for free. We always though of graffiti as the purest direction in art, because you are doing it only for the love of it and for the audience. We learn from others and try to make graffiti more appeal to our own eyes. It would be gratifying if people viewed it the same way we do.” 1134nyc was originally a graffiti crew that was founded in Staten Island around 1996 by CH. For the past two years, they have been trying to make it more organized, creating specialized projects for various companies that use graffiti to a new, legal ends. “We had this idea,” MINT explains, “Making the graffiti writer a role model for young kids. We approached Mass Appeal magazine with the idea of having a huge photo shoot with a famous photographer, a bunch of hot girls, and, of course, a crew of graffiti writers. The finished project was three spreads in issue twenty. When kids picked up that issue of Mass Appeal, they went to their parents and said, ‘Look Mom and Dad, I don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer. I want to be a graffiti writer like GOAL and SERF.’ “What was really cool was that prior to the issue release, we had this sports car wrapped in graffiti designs circulating the five boroughs, promoting the issue that was about to come out. We drove down Second Avenue and people would try to catch up to us to see what the hell was going on. The car was super bright.” *indicated images available as prints. Click here for details. |
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