New Age Art

The original article is here: Thundering Writers

Soul Artist train photos are sprinkled throughout the book, and their history, mostly recounted in Haze’s (SE3) interview, seems to permeate discussions of Rolling Thunder Writers.

My perception of RTW’s writers were generally that, “these guys are hippies.” Frankly, this iBook does little to quash my preconception. But what’s wrong with that? It isn’t mentioned in the book, but to my mind RTW sort of took off where early 1970’s graffiti writers like Stay High 149 ended - a sort of psychedelic, underground comix inspired graffiti explosion. They would hang out at the Central Park band shell, painted Vaughn Bode characters, and executed a style that was much more free-form than some of their contemporaries. Frequently during this volume I thought that the members should come out of retirement (many are still painting, actually) and bomb the Phish tour buses - maybe they already have though. These images mainly come from the Bilroc, Regal, Revolt and Haze (SE3) interviews.

My favorite interview is Bilroc’s. He recounts the New York City Transit Strike, and how graffiti writers reacted to it. I will let your imagination run wild with this and say no more -you have to hear it yourself.

In somewhat stark contrast to RTW’s hippie art vibe was their eventual next leader, Min. By all accounts he was driven and determined to bomb graffiti and his persistent energy seemed to be a galvanizing force once the Soul Artist influence receded into the background. His interview describes the historical dynamics of RTW and what eventually led it to be renamed “Rock the World” and its assimilation and synthesis with other graffiti clubs throughout the five boroughs.

Kel and Mare 139 (brothers) were instrumental in the “Rock the World” period, and photos of their trains are well represented in this volume. Kel’s interview frankly opens more questions than answers any, and seems geared to the most researched graffiti buffs, having many references to situations and events not covered in this volume.

Of special note is the Quik interview. Noted by the art world, revered by graffiti writers since the 1980’s, his interview twists every preconception one has about his motivation, inspiration and appreciation of his situation -mid interview! Surprisingly he eschews any artistic motivation on his part whatsoever! He frankly proclaims his main motivation was in fact, purely destructive and amplified by peer pressure. Picture a black guy in a Black Sabbath T-Shirt, driving his car after a few college classes to bomb the lay-ups just to “let off some steam.” He’s interviewed by Chalfant and Carl Weston (who produces the videos for the archive) who seem genuinely surprised. Keep in mind Quik later goes on to have a successful art career… his pieces the want of many a collector.

The “Rolling Thunder Writers” volume of Henry Chalfant’s Graffiti Archive is one of the best. Filled with train photos available nowhere else, fascinating interviews, and a recollection of history that still resonates today. For $5.99 you have one heckuva stocking-stuffer this holiday season for any art lover or Apple iPad owner in your life. I will also include my usual disclaimer with any graffiti book though: Graffiti is a loaded issue and parents should take care if their children want to get more involved.