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June 27, 2003
Eelus - The VitalsAge: 24Hometown:
Eelus - The Vitals
Age: 24
Hometown: Wigan
Where do you now live?: London
How long have you been creating street art?: 1.5 years
What did you do last night?: Sprayed a few pieces of canvas to go in my shop, spent around 30 minutes hunting down 2 huge bluebottles with a broken swatter that had broken into my flat, then worked on a small commission piece.
What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?: sushi, gotta love that eel.
Who is your favorite fictional character?: I'm a big slave labour comics fan, so it would have to be Johnny or Lenore. Failing that, my reserve team would consist of Evil Edna and the Moog, from Willow the Wisp, Hellboy, Ren from Ren and Stimpy and Withnail.
What do you currently have in your pockets?: 2 sets of keys, a travelcard, loads of blue fluff, a tube of Carmex, and a suspicious looking handkerchief that for some reason came out of my washing machine illuminous yellow.
If you were given "more time," what would you do with it?: I'd love to get more stuff out on the street, stickers, stencils, anything. Would like to concentrate on developing my illustration style more too, so alot of the time would be spent holding a pencil. I don't go to the cinema as much as I'd like to, same with exhibitions and galleries, so that would be another thing. Last but not least I'd be spending more time with my girl. The days are just way too short.
Who do you love?: Nina, my family, Audrey (my venus fly trap), and my cupboard full of plastic shopping bags, because you just never know...
Eelus - The A's to Our Q's:
Wooster: How did you get started in creating art for the street?
Eelus: Well after moving to London 3 years ago i started to see all these amazing pieces sprayed all over the city and was attracted to it instantly. I saw it as a perfect chance to get my stuff out of my sketchbooks and out there for a wider audience. Coming from a place where the only graffiti you could see was "kevin shagged tracey here", it was amazing to see how the city had been turned into a big blank canvas, a gallery open to all, and I loved that. I love the fact that you can go pretty much anywhere in London, especially East London, and within minutes you've come across 2 maybe 3 engaging pieces, wether it's Chu's "your mum rang" scribbled in some doorway, or a fucking huge Banksy helicopter hovering over row of shops. So i guess i knew right away that i had to get in on this scene, i had to contribute in some way to this ever expanding canvas. A great thing about bombing in a city like London is the amount of people that are here, I'm fascinated by the thought of hundreds, possibly thousands of people every week walking past your work and it creating some kind of response, wether it be a small smile that lasts mere seconds, or the topic of conversation when they get into work. I also love the subversiveness of it all, the powers that be see us as criminals, vandals making a mess of their grey landscape, so there's that excitement element to it. That rush you get when you're out there at god knows what time in the morning, about to spray a piece that you've poured your heart into for X amount of hours, just to make this dull environment more engaging and entertaining, i reckon the majority of the public would be on our side anyway to be honest.
Wooster: What other street artists do you most admire and why?
Eelus: oooh, how long have you got? Of course the usual crew, Banksy, in my opinion untouched when it comes to conceptual work, Kinsey, Fairey, Hicks, unbelievable detail, Futura 2000, all of the Scrawl Collective, Miss Van, Buff Monster, Mysterious Al, the London Police, Derrick Hodgson, Urban Medium, Dan Witz. Have massive respect for all of them and their work.
Wooster: What's your favorite city, neighborhood, or block, to post and/or to see street art?
Eelus: East London is great right now, alot of cool things popping up. I was in Barcelona a couple of years ago and saw alot of amazing graff there, and in Amsterdam too. I was up in Manchester not too long ago too and saw some very nice little gems.
Wooster: What inspires you now?
Eelus: Life, love & nature, always a constant source of beauty and at times almost breathtaking inspiration. People i know, people i don't. Anyone whose life is ruled by the urge to create and explore. All things 'retro', anything from kitchen utensils to cinema that comes from ages past, as well as visions and ideas of ages yet to come. Anything original and exciting that has been created by person A, for the sole purpose of being consumed in 1 way or another and creating an emotive response from person B, wether its a film, pop promo, book, comic, stencil, album cover, song, whatever! The city itself inspires me, the people, the architecture, the lifestyle. London can be a very dark and haunting place at times, and if you have an imagination like mine, that can lead to some interesting thoughts and ideas. A nice big clean wall, nothing like a nice big canvas that's just been painted especially. I also saw the biggest toilet brush ever last weekend, was about 4 foot long with the a head on it the size of a small child, amazing!
Wooster: What are you currently working on? Can you give us a sneak peek?
Eelus: Well im still kind of new to the scene really, but i have a head full of ideas so expect to see alot more of me. Like i said earlier i really want to just concentrate on my illustration style and start doing alot more of that on and off the street as apposed to pop orientated pieces. Hopefully I'll have a site up and running asap, selling my pieces and my own tees, but for now i have my own little shop in the stables market at Camden, unit 622. Everybody shall be greeted with a pie and a smile, so tell your friends, and spread the love.
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