On November 16, I posted a call for submissions of material related to the history of Evanston graffiti--pictures, videos, personal testimonies--on behalf of my friends Alex and Rob, who are working on a book about that illustrious and oh-so-Evanstonian subject. Since then, I've interviewed the guys about their project. Please enjoy the following discussion, and by all means email evanstongraffitibook@hotmail.com if you would like to help Rob and Alex get the full story!
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Johnny: When Rob first introduced me to Alex, at Teddy Ballgame and Grant Munski’s open studio back in July, he told me he was doing a documentary on Evanston’s graffiti history. I guess I assumed it was going to be a film documentary, but now I find out it’s going to be a book. Tell me how you got the idea of making a book documentary about graffiti in Evanston?
Alex: Well, I was always interested in knowing the history behind Evanston graffiti and took the opportunity to learn what I could growing up. I had the idea to make a comprehensive book about it for a long time but didn’t act on it till I realized that it was something that had to be done right away, now or never.
Rob: Inspiration came to me when haphazardly running into Alex on the train. Alex, I soon found out, was wrestling with the idea of creating a book about the history of Evanston graffiti and had me in mind as the designer of the book. I could tell he was serious, passionate, and humble toward his cause so I offered my hand of service and encouragement. Having roots in Evanston similar to Alex’s, having collaborated with Alex on projects in the past, and nearing completion of my bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, it seemed divinely appointed that we met on the train that one day. Now we’re nearing one year of working on the book, recovering the history and photos of writing in Evanston.
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Johnny: Why did you guys choose to do this interview by email, rather than in person? I feel this question is sort of related to my curiosity about why you want to do a book about Evanston graffiti, rather than a movie?
Alex: Questions by e-mail allow us time to respond, were both real busy and it’s more practical that way. Creating a book makes more sense. Remember, back in the day only a few people had snap and shoot cameras let alone video cameras. There are far more photos out there then tapes of video footage. A Book is classic, you can pick it up and flip through it wherever you are.
Rob: The idea of meeting in person we would have enjoyed, but we wanted the luxury of getting our thoughts together before answering. Gathering together video footage to make a “comprehensive” movie about Evanston’s graffiti history would be incredibly difficult because of the lack of video footage there is on the subject from the early 80’s to present date. In our search for photos we have come across close to a thousand photos. With my focus being graphic design, making a book was the obvious choice.
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Johnny: Do you have any favorite coffee table books you might want to model your book after? Are you by any chance thinking of doing a straight-up PROSE book?
Alex: Definitely on the Prose side of things. There is a lot of history to present in the book so it is not going to be your typical big, clunky coffee table book that only contains photos.
Rob: Frankly, I don’t think I own a coffee table book. We have good ideas for modeling our book. I’ve received tremendous design know-how working towards my B.A in graphic design and have a unique perspective growing up in Evanston and riding the purple line.
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Johnny: So, guys, tell me what’s going to be in the book. What’s the story, what can we look forward to reading about?
Alex: The entire history of graffiti in Evanston. We plan to cover generations of graffiti artists, crews, events, twists, and turns that shaped the history and made it what it is today. There are going to be hundreds of photos, compelling stories, proper design, and very special dedications to our fallen brothers. This is a story that has to be told.
Rob: I come in at proper design. As the designer of this book, I am committing myself to finding the most relevant way of displaying Evanston Graffiti in book format. Expect something easy to read, enjoyable to look at, and able to pull you into the history of graffiti visually and textually.
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Johnny: How did you become aware of graffiti in general? In Chicago? In Evanston?
Alex: I first became aware of graffiti as a kid the same way most kids did. Seeing it on the street, on the train, and in school. Graffiti was a part of my surroundings. Back then, a lot of the people my age had a friend or relative who wrote.
Rob: Growing up, meeting people that did it. At that point I really started to see it on the train and all over the city.
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Johnny: What is Chicago’s equivalent of going all city compared to New York?
Alex: Going all city in Chicago means rocking all the train lines and streets on the North, South, and West Sides. For New York, it’s rocking all five boroughs. The lines are included in going all city in New York. but it’s more oriented around street bombing. New York has more transit lines than Chicago, so there’s much more ground to cover, way more competition, way less available space, and overall it’s a much harder task. In terms of the size of the systems, New York is to Chicago what Mexico City is to New York.
Rob: Yep, that sounds about right.
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Johnny: Shout-outs and thanks?
Alex and Rob: We want to give a special thanks to every one who has had faith and believed in what were doing, and taken time out of their busy lives to contribute photos, history, personal stories and help from the get-go. We don’t want to blow you guys up all crazy right now, but you know who you are; y'all are the best. Thank you. To those of you who are in the process of contributing and helping, thank you. To those of you thinking about it, don’t snooze. We are proud to make this book and highly qualified. We view this as a contribution back to the culture. Rest in Peace Wiz, Fun, Kiser. Thank you John for showing an interest in our project and interviewing us. We appreciate it. Peace.
