Secondary Protocol - Mode 2

Writer: Damian Platt

Mode 2 is simply one of the most influential graffiti artists there has ever been. A founding member of one of Europe's first serious graffiti crews, the Chrome Angelz, whose paintings had pride of place in Henry Chalfant and James Prigoff's Spraycan Art, he moved to Paris where he painted throughout the 90s, with Parisian graffiti outfit 93 NTM. Mode 2 is one of only a few people who successfully bridges the linguistic and cultural divide that separates the two cities. His lettering and crisp character paintings are world-famous. Having spotted him partying around London at nights like Co-Op and Blacktronica, he kindly accepted to be harassed by KTL with some questions...

Could you introduce yourself and tell us where you're from and where you grew up?

I'm from Mauritius, where I spent the first eight years of my life, then came to London in '76, Paris in '87, then back to London recently.

How did you get into painting graffiti?

I was bored after sitting my 'O' Levels in early summer '84, was hanging out in Covent Garden, where all the hip hop was coming together then, and because I had already been drawing since childhood, I was naturally attracted by this new tool that was the spraycan, and all that you could do with. I had seen Dondi on the Buffalo Gals video outlining a year or more before, and that had also got me hooked. I had always been into writing, for the sake of the beautiful handwriting kind of thing - so there's another reason!

How were the Chrome Angels formed?

Scribla and I hooked up at the Capital Radio Venture Day in Battersea Park, summer '84, and we got painting and drawing together then. Later that summer, we saw Zaki Dee, with the back-piece on his denim jacket, walking up towards Covent Garden tube station, along with Eskimo and Zerox. They were called the Trailblazers, so we joined up with them. It's not until the RapAttack gig at the Shaw Theatre in April '85 that we finally became The Chrome Angelz, when Pride also joined us.

Can you remember any of the funniest moments from that time in your life?

Too many to name, or to put into any real order, as the time, place and circumstance of each puts them on a level of equal importance.

You moved to Paris at the end of the 80s, how did this come about?

I went to work in computer graphics, hung in there for like eight months, got frustrated, laid off, but ended up staying in Paris, as those were really good hip hop years, and it was live over in Paris at the time.

What was the hip hop scene in France like compared to the UK at that time?

People didn't understand the lyrics much, so had not imported some of the more negative stuff that could be heard here and there, but it must be said that crews like Public Enemy did in fact export some of the political issues that they had in the U.S. as far as Paris. Anyone with an identity crisis could fall into the confusion of that, and a few did. Still, we were not affected by the rave scene that was sweeping across the UK, and really thrived off of what to me were the best years of hip hop, when those who were teenies and fans of Sugar Hill Gang or Grandmaster Flash, or Spoonie Gee, Cold Crush and so on, had reached maturity and were defining hip hop their own way, before the record industry stepped in massively. We were mostly into tagging and parties then, that was our lot in life and kept us busy and inspired...

What do you think is most interesting about Paris at the moment, what should people who go over there be checking out?

I only just moved back because there's not much work out there right now, but I guess there IS still much going on. You'd have to wait for stuff to build up again perhaps. Still, for food alone, it's definitely worth the trek, and my list of restaurants is very long indeed! Let's not forget all the small stores that have produce that's so hard to find over in London...

Where are you based right now, and what are you doing at the moment?

I'm back in London and trying to somehow get a grip on all the things that are going on at present. I'm working with Pictures On Walls, where we're pushing stuff from Banksy, Jamie Hewlett etc., and we're preparing for Santa's Ghetto, our annual Xmas art fair, on the first of December. I'm just getting my bearings, letting people know that I'm about, and networking to the maximum...

Could you tell us a bit about the exhibition that you recently showed at the Dragon Bar in Old Street? Can anyone who missed this catch this work elsewhere?

A Matter Of Taste was a collection of nine erotic pastel drawings done large scale on mdf panels that had been wallpapered. I had also tried to paint the whole room on top of the Dragon Bar in pink, but kind of ran out of time. I wanted to create a sensorial environment where women and men could talk about certain aspects of sexuality that I'm attracted to, without an ominous feeling of the power struggle between the sexes, or sliding from sexual to sexist... I didn't finish the work the way I had wished to, but the spectators liked it, and I didn't get any negative feedback from any of the ladies that came to talk to me about it. That was my greatest satisfaction of all...I might take it to Paris for spring fashion week, if I can find a similar venue to transform...so stay tuned.

As someone who is a recognised figure on the world graffiti scene, you must travel quite a lot. Do you think that hip hop will continue to be the dominating global youth cultural movement for years to come?

I think that hip hop and rap have got mixed up, and that rap has actually become the new pop. I think that, unless we manage to get some distance from what we do, and try to define today's equivalent of what we were doing then, rather than simply repeating ourselves, we shall not be the dominating global youth cultural movement as you put it. We shall simply become more and more like the consumers that society and market forces would like to make of us... This is too long a debate to get into over a short answer, but I feel there are bakers, cobblers, and plumbers that may be more hip hop than those out there wearing all the gear. All you need to do is put your craft before you, feel the sense of duty towards your predecessors, and one of responsibility for those who came after you within whatever craft or culture that you're into. Too many out there are just out for self, with very short-term goals attached.

What graffiti and other artists do you rate at the moment? Do you have any recommendations for stuff to look out for?

Ride the trains and buses, and catch what you like... There are many talented people out there, and it would be hard to try and draw up a list, without excluding some people by a slip of the mind, and pissing them off or discouraging them in some way.

Does graffiti have a future?

Only as long as the innovators will remain at its core, and that what they bring is recognized by the rest masses, will it still be breaking ground. If a particular style or direction that someone has brought is not recognized at its just value, we'll all be on the decline...

I dedicate this to all those that have inspired me, whether they started before or after me, whether they be involved with hip hop or not. Rest in peace to DJ Leacy...


RELATED LINKS:
www.defumo.org
www.picturesonwalls.com
www.thecalendar.it
Gallery

PUBLISHED: 10 January 2005

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