Carpe Diem, Greece, #2/2000

A small biography ( where, how when and why)

I was born in 1974 in düsseldorf, germany. Moved a bit around germany, found myself in munich and was confronted with graffiti there in spring/summer 1989. Searched all around munich for graffiti, found quite a lot, spent the summer sketching and watching people paint, and in winter 89 did my first own piece, for my girlfriends birthday. Fooled around a bit, did this and that, switched my name to neck in fall 1994. Did the first neck piece in 1995. Then i moved to düsseldorf for studying, met meric, moritz and efas. Together we founded cnskillz crew. And then upwards from there on. A short crew history can be found on the history section of our website, www.cnskillz.com, plus a lot of pieces of all crew members: ate1, efas, meric, moritz, myself, scien, clore and seak.

What was your reaction about writing you from Greece. Anything about graff in Greece

A few people i know were in greece last year (? The year before that?) in athens and told me how things are going down in the athens region, so i knew about graffiti being existant over there. Have only seen very few greek pieces, though, only the pieces from the jam there.....

Have you ever done illegal graff and what s your opinion about them

I like to see good bombings in good places. Graffiti wouldn't exist without them. Not just historically, but today as well: there would be no legal graff without bombing, it belongs together and cannot be divided. Illegal painting is a crucial part of this culture we're in.

What is diference about graff on canvas and graff on walls

Well, not so much really..... the space on a canvas is more confined, so you have to work with that. In one way, the limited space limits your possibilities, but on the other hand, it pushes your creativity to find a way to work around that problem.

How are you getting on with the crews and what does crew mewn to you (crew family;)

Crew life vs family life? I get along well with members of my crew. There are tensions now and then, there are very good moments now and then.... just as usual, i guess. We are all more or less in contact, which is a bit difficult, since scien and clore come from france and are not around the corner to visit. But we meet as often as possible to keep the connection up.

The fututre of graff in Germany and particullary in your area

Phew..... i'm not really a philosopher, so how should i know? Neither clairvoyant....... graffiti is a hype right now, it's modern, it's cool, it's something to impress the girls with, so a lot of people are doing it. I guess the media hype will wear off someday and only those will stick to it that really carry graffiti in their heart.

Have you been affected inspired by anyone

Pretty much by anyone and everything. Everything that i see and like, i carry with me, and it probably has an influence on what i sketch or paint. But not in a way that i can specifically point it out. Sometimes things come back to me the day after i saw them,. Sometimes maybe a year later, sometimes never. Style means something to you and because of your personal style

what can you say about those who are bite

Well, biting is bad for you.... i mean, starting in graffiti, most everyone bites somewhere, but then after a while, people begin to put their own influences into their sketches, thus creating something new, which is absolutely okay, even if it may seem pretty close to the original inspiration. So there is a thin line between being inspired by something and biting a style. Biting outright, like taking the same style, just shuffling the letters a bit, is definitely a no-no. What's the use? There's no personal advantage in it, you have no input and thus deserve no fame and recognition for what you do.

How many pieces

Hmm. Dunno exactly. Should be between 500 and 600 since the first one in 1989.

Tell us your most cool graffiti action

Well, happened just recently: flying 12 hrs to hong kong to paint there. Very nice, beautiful city, very much different from what i've ever seen before. This trip was sponsored by blacksmith streetwear, a company that supports me a little. So i spent 4 days in hong kong, painting a few pieces and a canvas. The pieces from hong kong can be seen on my site www.neckcns.com, and some more pictures from this trip can soon be found @ www.blacksmith.de.

Train bombers anything to say for them

Same as illegal writing generally: i keep being impressed by some very very good productions rolling around, and what i do wouldn't have a reason for existence without them.

Where have you paint and where you d like to paint

Well..... all over germany, hamburg to munich, aachen to gera. Apart from that..... the netherlands (eindhoven, den haag, s'hertogenbosch...), belgium (antwerp), france (lille, dunkerque), switzerland (emmenbrücke, zug), austria (linz), iceland (reykjavik), hong kong, united kingdom (london), croatia (zagreb, split)...... i'd definitely like to paint anywhere i haven't been before. Logical, huh?

Do you have anything with the H-H culture what's your opinion about them Do you regard them irrelevant with graff

To me, graffiti is a part of the hiphop culture, not to be divided from it. It may have started as something seperate, but grew into this culture and i think that all aspects of this culture belong together. I'm not active in any other field than graffiti, but still i relish the other parts being there and enjoy them immensely.

With whom do you prefer to write do you mind having company while working

Depends.... somtimes i prefer just going out with crew members, sometime i enjoy having company from far away, sometimes i just need to go out alone.

Time for brain storm

Police - Useless and a pain in the ass sometimes.
segen - what's that?
girls - love em.
abolution- for what?
war - unnecessary
internet - connections to the world
carpediem - dead poets' society

Some writers say that 3d is inpressive what do you have to say too them

I guess you shouldn't start doing 3ds before you have an idea what your style is. 3d okay, but simply by being 3d a piece is not yet a burner. There's so much crap 3d around.... learn some style, then go to the next dimension. 3d can only be good when there's a solid style definition behind it, without it, it's just crap.

Would you ever travel around europe

sure. Someone pay me the fare and i'm on my way.

Small message big meaning

Be original. (never heard this before, have you? I know. Not exactly original myself, am i....)

Regards to whom

Before i begin, i'll probably forget a few, so don't bug out..... i'm sorry already. Ate1, efas, meric, moritz, scien, clore, seak, turna, www.daim.org, trol, tasek, stohead, daddy cool, reso, make 51, blacksmith, www.backspin.de, juice, olee, omo, katmando, www.loomit.de, steve, vince, ralph, step 2 diz, kaelimetz, joker, www.stylzhome.de, phenc, riz, musk, boes, dno, www.ta55o.de, scout, csb, kasino, blitzkrieg mag, ohne, can2, www.graffiti.org/wow123, stuka, scum, neon, kez, mint, www.hi.is/2def, susan, brett, www.graffiti.org, kao, lmf, dcs, headrush, magic, nosm, how, dzine, subworld, zgbkaos mag, gene, chek, leon, lunar, bsea, senk, elements mag, spoon, syan, eric

For which reason will you stop graff

None, i hope. When i get bored of it. When i've done all i can think of ( still some way to go). Most probably: lack of time.

This article is © 2000 by Carpe Diem Magazine, Greece and O.Gelbrich / NeckCNS. Please ask permission before using this in any way.