Artists
Wootini spoke to Blood Brothers artist MCA about street art, sticker trading, his fondness for monkeys and where he finds inspiration when the creative juices aren’t flowing.
W: The internet connects so many artists in this community and collaboration seems to be easier than ever. Has the ability to collaborate without even having met an artist affected your work? If so, how?
MCA: I love the worldwide internet web, it’s a great thing – never mind just checking out tons of great work, but yes you meet folks on the other side the world so easily. It’s kinda funny with the computer, because I can officially sound like an old man when I say I remember not having a computer, before email & blogs & flickr – making zines on the trusty xerox & mailing stuff out, putting small free ads in Slug & Lettuce, MRR & other zines/comics to trade stickers & zines with kids through the regular mail. I miss not getting as many cool letters and stuff in the ol’p.o.box, but anyways I am rambling – yes it has been awesome collaborating w/folks I had not yet met in person. I worked w/Jeremyville way before our paths crossed in NYC. I had met Evoker before we collabed on that sticker we did, but yea, there are folks I have never met in person to this day that I have done some art work with & that’s pretty cool. I am not sure if it has affected my work, but it has helped put together some fun projects rather easily. Being connected with like minded people as easy as it is now – def a great thing.
WZRD Evil Ape Custom by MCA for Blood Brothers
W: In art, especially street art, artists often get recognized for a certain repeated character. How have you worked with this/around this? Does it affect how you make artwork?
MCA: I guess most folks know me these days by my Evil Ape character, which is cool. I was and still am a big fan of monkeys, I remember going to that movie ‘Going Ape!’ with Tony Danza & Danny Devito with my cousins when I was a kid – if ya haven’t seen it, def hunt down the VHS – it’s awesome, but yea – so yea, I drew a bunch of apes one day & that guy, the Evil Ape, was born & now has been turned into a whole bunch of toys, which is awesome… But yea, street art characters repeated for your eyes & in my mind..wait, what?.. I am trying to remember question, umm.. I enjoy being known mainly by some for a certain character, yes. I am a fan of characters, ones that stand out, ones you instantly recongnize.. so, if I was able to do that on any scale w/my evil ape – that’s awesome. He has be on tees, stickers, stones, toys, bags, pins, all kinds of stuff that I have pretty much all made myself. I guess the only way it affects how I make work is that I make sure I don’t get bored or burned out on him, which is why it is fun coming up with new ways to incorporate your guy into the work – kinda like w/the stencils I did for Blood Brothers – which were super fun to do… so yea, keep it fresh. Apes of the world Unite!
W: What is the appeal of creating street art for you?
MCA: Putting up stickers and seeing kids read em & laugh is the best. I don’t put up as many as I used to, but that basically was it, getting reactions. I would stick up stickers on my regular walking route, so then on following days – now & again I’d see someone going up & reading the saying of the little guy on the sticker & cracking up, that was the best. I really need to get out & get up once this east coast weather breaks…
W: Where do you draw inspiration from when you are really low on creative energy?
MCA: I get inspiration from all over, like most artists do. If I am low on energy, I’ll usually just take a break for however long need be, randomly scroll around internet web sites, watch videos, listen to music, drink too much coffee, make big batches of oatmeal, answer interview questions, eat candy, go back to looking at websites, check out tumblr, comment on a stranger’s photo on facebooks, umm… yea & usually while doing all this nonsense, I might just mess around drawing on scrap paper… I usually get my best ideas when I am not trying to, not thinking about it.. so yea, it may look like I am procrastinating & wasting all my time, but in reality I am only wasting some of it…
Stencil work from MCA at Blood Brothers
W: What other artists’ work are you into at the moment?
MCA: I dig the two fellas I’m in this show with, Evoker’s new stuff is wild, I def need a rooster painting! & his sticker collab series was really cool. Abe’s new path into resin toys is wild, his Globulon is awesome. I also dig the work of Skinner, Splurrt, JK5, Stephan Britt, Elmer Presslee, DPF, Le Merde, Jeff Lamm, Godzeero, Bwana Spoons, Magmo, Matt Lock, Tadpole, Brandwashed, Notorious AEA, Ben Jones, Gary Panter, Niko Stumpo & tons of other wild style folks… too much good stuff out there!
W: How do you find creating artwork for a gallery setting vs. creating street art?
MCA: To me it is pretty equal, the same thought & energy goes into both – it is just the execution that changes up a little. The biggest difference is that you don’t need to glue things down in a gallery.
W: How do you find the process of creating artwork for vinyl figures to be different than for the canvas?
MCA: Well, I see myself mainly as a guy that make sup characters, so the process of making my art into a 3D toy/sculpture is just the idea that now I need to draw him/her/it from all angles & directions, think of him as a living thing or a plastic version of a living thing… as far as a canvas or drawing, you can be a little more free with it, not worrying or thinking about – ‘ how the hell with this wzrd spirit holding a power stone on a cloud of magical dust stand up!?’ you just draw & freak out… so yea I guess a little bit of difference, but of course I am open to many of my guys being turned into crazy toys.
W: How has sticker trading with other artists affected the way you look at art or the way your art career has progressed?
MCA: I guess I dont trade as much as I used to.. It seems now I get soem many kids just randomly messaging me or emailing me saying ‘hey, send me stickers’ – it makes me not want to send them anything at all. I am a huge fan of trading, whether stickers, art, zines, toys, t-shirts – most of th ecool stuff I have is from trading. I traded a wzrd magic stone to Evoker for a wild tiger painting for my daughter – it’s the best, but you have to be real about it & not come off like you are demanding free stuff. But I don’t see it making me look at art differently, I see it as a way to build a tighter community of artists that all are on the same level – no need for money, we dig what each other are doing & we wanna share. Trading is great.
W: What figures if any from your childhood still find their way into your artwork?
MCA: I think all the stuff that freaked me out & unconsciously inspired me as a kid is still doing the same to me today… All that craziness of pop culture is what I dive into for my drawings. I’m still drawing guys based on Dumb Donald, Mr. T, Hammerhead & Dom Deluise – so yea, not much has changed, just new guys get added to the mind files..
W: Where do you find your characters originating from?
MCA: Ummm…… well, they are sparked by Holiday in Cambodia, Geraldo getting hit with a chair, Rip Torn, that little old guy that was Benny Hill’s side-kick, Mr.T, Shaft, Dolemite, Superfly, Foxy Brown, Neil Diamond, What’s New Pussy Cat, Deputy Dawg, The San Diego Padre’s Chicken, Marty Scorscesse, Hombre, Bobby Deniro, Junk Yard Dog, J.J. Jackson, Pineapple Now’n'Laters, BS2000, Kareem Abdul Jabar in the movie Airplane, Paul Reubens at the movies, Mr. Green Jeans, Dr. Hook’s ‘Baby Makes Her Blue Jeans Talk’, The Banana Splits, Darby Crash, Trash Humpers, Public Enemy, Donald Duck swearing in duck language, Yo Gabba Gabba, Good Times, The Three Men and a Baby Boy, Holy Mountain, Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five, Lil’Wayne, Edith Massey, Flounder, Mushmouth, Gary Coleman, Tootie, Jack Tripper’s friend Larry, Ozzy, Lux Interior, Earth, Wind & Fire, Harvey Keitel in The Bad Lieutenant, NWA, Female Trouble, that ‘Where’s the Beef?’ lady, Raging Bull, Prison tattoos, Larry, Daryl & Daryl, Shemp, Jeff Spicoli, Chris Farley, Nathaniel Hornblower, Ted from Mary Tyler Moore, Ol’Dirty Bastard, Bruce Lee, The Fat Boys, Car Wash, Froggy from The Little Rascals and Hot Buttered Soul.
Tags : Blood Brothers, MCA
