INTERVIEW
FM March 2010
Wayne Alexander was one of the biggest party promoters in the UK and is a survivor of the Acid House dream. Now, he’s taking the battle to the streets.
The writing on the wall H
e was beaten up, confronted with sawn-off shotguns, kidnapped and threatened with murder. But Wayne Alexander, whose grandfather is from Malta and who has relatives on the island, lived to tell his story as one of the biggest party promoters in the UK, which he published in Class of 88: The True Acid House Experience (Virgin Books). Acid House rose from the ashes of economic recession. “Wherever you find an impoverished people you will also find inventiveness, creativity and an urge for freedom,” says
Alexander, who nowadays publishes the online London Street-Art Design magazine. As Margaret Thatcher pulled England from the trenches and onto the world stage, an entrepreneurial spirit captured the country. It was this same spirit that fuelled Acid House: from clubs and pubs which closed early on weekends, thousands of young people started gathering for massive all-nighters which went on to change the face of popular culture. Acid House gave one generation the freedom to think, listen and feel beyond the constraints that society imposed. Acid House created a free
space for the people. But behind the smiley dream was a world of drug deals, violence, exploitation, protection rackets and armed robbery. Does Alexander still have the scars to show? “My experience as one of the biggest party promoters in the UK is different to that of the normal party goer,” says Alexander. “But although I was kidnapped, bound and gagged at gun point on more than one occasion, I still think that this was probably one of the most uplifting periods of my life. This was far bigger than anything that had happened in the UK, including the arrival of Punk Rock.”
9
INTERVIEW
Alexander’s Class of 88: The True Acid House Experience has, since its publication, achieved cult status. The book has also been optioned for a movie, which will be out in two years. “Translating a book into a film is a ruthless procedure because it’s impossible to capture in its entirety,” says Alexander. “I’m hoping that we can produce an accurate reflection of what happened in and to Britain during that period. This story is much bigger than me - this is a story about a whole generation losing its ego and finding its centre.” But how did Acid House lead to London Street-Art Design magazine? “The current wave of street art has many similarities with Acid House,” says Alexander. “Street art is a reaction
10
FM March 2010
to what’s happening today because, although we can now party the night away, we have less civil rights than we did 20 years ago. It all boils down to who owns public spaces: advertising agencies or the people? If you are willing to allow advertising agencies to spend billions of pounds on street advertising with hidden meanings, then I feel you should support street artists. Admittedly not all deserve such support but generally these artists are fighting for a balanced environment in which all creativity is welcomed.” London Street-Art Design magazine first started as a database of photos that Alexander took while walking through London. “I fell into the business by chance. A new video social network had just been launched in the USA and they needed video content targeting youth markets. What made it stand out was the fact that it was the first
network which actually allowed you to broadcast live from your cell phone to your given profile and anywhere else you cared to embed the broadcast. They commissioned me to shoot various happenings in London and on the very first day I went and filmed a Banksy piece.” “At the time, I was not a big graffiti fan, but I could sense that something was special was happening on the streets of London. Graffiti is completely illegal in the UK, so the sheer fact that Banksy’s stencil was on the wall of a busy high street and had been covered in protective plastic meant a new ideology had arrived. Nothing so powerful had touched the UK since the government brought down Acid House in the late 1980s. I knew right there and then that the streets would become the next battlefield for the occupation of the human mind. This was two years ago and I’m now good friends with many of the artists whose work I shot on that first day.”
INTERVIEW
FM March 2010 “London Street-Art Design Magazine is our contribution to this fast growing industry. Instead of sticking with the traditional format of graffiti or street art magazines, my partner Sirius 23 and I decided to upgrade the format. We research, collect and publish articles on subject matter such as law, symbolism, spirituality or even remote viewing. Personally we have no political agenda. The articles are all written to a very high standard - the April edition will feature an interview we’re doing with Noam Chomsky. On the art front we’ve tried to present as many different street forms as we can lay our hands on. We’re trying to encourage creativity in all people and not just artists. We explore art forms which don’t actually require any art-based knowledge - that’s one of the reasons I decided to publish a magazine. We didn’t have funding to create a paper magazine so we went for a digital format.” Street art is faithful to Situationist thought and aims at creating a situation that forces bystanders to participate. “Like commercial advertising, street art thrives on human interactivity,” Alexander says. “Both artists and viewers play a role in creating the works. Advertising and street art may come from completely different mindsets, yet they both force viewers to have an opinion on what they see. Advertising companies have long mastered the art of symbolism and have adopted a number of methods when creating hypnotic promotional campaign imagery.” “With street art, artists have taken it upon themselves to broadcast their own messages to the masses. But while with advertising the focus is on buying, with street art, the focus is on thinking. The people that view these artists as a menace to society miss the point. In a global climate of fear, street art is a knee-jerk reaction from those who feel trapped in a world governed by money, power and war.” “Yet street art is not just social or political. It can also be pure and simple art; a break from the billboards conditioning our children to consume, devour or destroy. Artists provide a temporary escape from the sterile environments we’ve become accustomed to. We see thousands of advertising imagery every day, so when viewing a painted wall with the message Love, it stands out from other slogans. The emotion content is always higher than the lifestyle it portrays.” “Street art is also fun. If street artists didn’t enjoy what they do, they wouldn’t be doing it. Unlike a job, art isn’t a chore – it’s a pleasure and privilege. We’ve interviewed some of the biggest names in the game for London Street-Art Design magazine and they have nothing but love for what they do.”
Haw’s permanent structure. He asked if he could fill the space and did a stencil. Classic example of placement.” But doesn’t the ephemeral quality of street art go against the traditional notion that art should outlive its artist? Doesn’t its temporariness trouble Alexander? “Temporariness gives street art another life and meaning. I’ve snapped artists painting a wall one day and came back the next to see another artist painting over it. History is being written and rewritten on a daily basis, and as a documentary filmmaker I recognised this instantly. These artists don’t wish their works to hang on gallery walls 50 years from now.” Still, galleries are involved in street-art. Moreover, they have made a number of street artists millionaires. “It is a win-win situation for galleries, as some of them take no less than 40 per cent on each sale” says Alexander. “Artists want nothing more than to create art and this means a compromise must be made to make some money. I completely understand any artist who shows works in a gallery and I understand those who won’t go anywhere near a gallery. The artist either gets a day job or sells some work. The current trend is for an artist to rent their own space and exhibit in an environment created completely by them. There are more places to show your art in London, Bristol, or Manchester than ever documented in history.” When you mention street art, Banksy immediately comes to mind. Banksy’s debut movie, Exit through the Gift Shop, showed at the Berlin film festival and is self-described as ‘the world’s first street art disaster movie.’ “Banksy has been writing on walls since the 1980s, and has made millions from his work, deservedly so,” says Alexander. “Apart from Banksy, there are some great artists currently making waves in the UK, including Busk, T.wat, Fake, K-Guy, Carrie Reichardt, Milo, and Stik.” London Street-Art Design magazine is now in its fourth issue. “So far, all issues have over 300 pages so we’re practically producing a book with each issue,” says Alexander. “We have various contributors but 80 per cent of the magazine is put together by Sirius 23 and I. We’re hoping to attract some funding so we can take it to the next level, which also includes a TV network.”
“We also want to add the Malta element. I’ve heard that there are Maltese street artists placing CARRY ON CARRY ON work “There is another important element in street in London, but I have yet to find TALKING!them. If thereTALKING! art - location. Placement drives meaning, and are any artists in Continue the Continue this is what made artists like Blek le Rat, Seen, Malta who think they fit the the bill, let debate on them come forward debateand onI would be or Banksy. For example an artist friend of mine named T.wat was recently driving past the Houses www. more than happywww. to feature them in of Parliament when he noticed that a supermarket FMlifestyleLondon Street-Art FMlifestyle Design.” was doing some kind of promotion in the square .com .com London Street-Art Design is at opposite Big Ben. The sharp-eyed artist noticed a www.londonstreetartdesign.com blank space on the back of live-in-protestor Brian
12
CARRY ON LOOKING! See more photos on www. FMlifestyle .com