TEMPO: Who or what is SAFE?
SAFE: ‘Safe’ is a person, an action even I don’t understand, he is weird, he is different, and he is unique… I can’t say it is a bad thing and I can’t say it is a good thing…SAFE is his own genre and he is indefinable.
TEMPO: Would you care to elaborate on the technicalities of your art?
SAFE: When it comes to street art there is something a lot of people need to know before they get judgmental…graffiti vocabulary can be broken down into three terms. ‘Tagging’ is not what you do when you run and tag someone or a Facebook action but a graffiti artist’s signature, and it is done by a marker or a spray paint. ‘Bombing’ is not physically planting something to hurt anyone but a prolific painting of marking with ink. ‘Pieces’ are the big colourful art works that include name with a background, 3D effects, etc… it is basically short term for masterpiece. There are a lot of other terminologies to the game, but I’m not bothered to care what the terms are, I just want to paint alone in my own little world.
TEMPO: Who inspires you?
SAFE: Hmmmm…I am not entirely sure who inspires me because I think I like big art work because it’s more noticeable, but Banksy would be one of the many inspirations I have on a daily basis.
TEMPO: How would you describe a day in the life of SAFE?
SAFE: I don’t follow a set of routine so it’s difficult to say, but I’m very spontaneous and I prefer to do things that feel are right at the moment. But I’ll tell you what I did today…. I woke up around 2 pm, had chocolate for breakfast and some water. I went to my can rack, grabbed some spray cans out for a graff session with a friend. I left the house and realized that I didn’t bother with a shower, so I picked up my friend, we went to the location and applied art…we got dirty, sweaty, and at some point I thought I got a heat stroke. Anyway, I came back to my place, recharged and went to an isolated café, met with other friends, looked at the pictures and vids of today’s session, then just chilled and discussed the next session. Then I showered and started working on canvas from around 11pm till 6 am. THAT is not what happens every day.
TEMPO: Is there a silver lining in your cloud, literally and figuratively?
SAFE: There’s no silver line. There is only an outline, which I fill in and place against a background.
TEMPO: What’s the best thing about being a graffiti artist?
SAFE: Well to me graffiti has been my gateway to other things, such as canvas art, contemporary and modern art. It’s also one amazing adrenaline kick. It’s very addictive and has really opened me up and made me who I am today. I just can’t describe it in words. It’s pure bliss.
TEMPO: What is your biggest challenge?
SAFE: My biggest challenge was getting graffiti spray paint which is not available here and can’t ship from overseas because it’s considered “dangerous.” But we have managed to use what we have around. Another thing that bugged me out at first was the haters – other “graffiti artists” – who call themselves “kings.” They’re the ones who hate your work and try and put you down as hard as they can, but after a while I just stopped caring. One person I trust that has helped me is my one and only graff partner “Rami” who has taught me not to care about jealous haters. Thanks homeboy.
By Angeli Castillo
