/>EKO vs. G

href="http://ekosystem.org/Artists.php3?Writer=ekopez">EKO: G, you
are a young father just like me. Does your son’s birth interfere with your work
?

href="http://ekosystem.org/Artists.php3?Writer=g_paris">G: Of
course it does because it interferes with all my life. It’s adding another
living dimension to my mind. I think that the birth of a child lets us know a
lot of things about our selves, about human knowledge, about the real roots of
our life. Today i couldn’t live, breathe, sleep, eat, play or work without
having my son. It becomes the real part of my life, it’s the real life. Because
it’s the only answer when you’ve got some troubles to re-find your inside peace.
As Metallica said : “NOTHING ELSE MATTERS”

EKO: What
future directions do you predict for your work ?

G:
With all my investment in it, i hope to have soon some real art
application in galleries by example. I wish to have my photographic work known
as well and perhaps succeed by earning my life only with this. But it’s not
magic, i must work every day to getting better and better and…. I’ve a secret
wish about making some fashion or advertising shoots with my human respect
mind…it would be, i think, a quite revolutionnary!

/>EKO: As a street activist, what has been your greatest
achievement ?

G: Since 3 years, i’m able to show my
photographic work with the help of street-art. I began with small A3 pieces of
paper and today i’m able to paste a huge wall. So my greatest achievement would
be the power of expression i found in street-art to make my photographic stuff
integrated better and bigger in the city. For example, making and pasting huge
billboards (4x3 meters) is fun, giving me a good reason to keep going the way i
choose.

EKO: Can you give us 3 reasons to live in
Paris ?

G: The first one : A great culture crossover
between old and contemporary stuff and all the Paris’ facilities around this.
The second one : It’s a very easy center to make things that be noticed quickly
by medias.  If you want to be famous, to be recognized in what you do, Paris is
a good launch place. The third one : As i’m not a native parisian, i’m still
discovering hidding area in the town i’m now living in. It’s such strange to be
suprized while my photographic or pasting walks. With this side, i’m keeping a
fresh feeling about this place, a sort of rebirth each time i know a new side of
Paris

EKO: and the 3 things you hate most in Paris
?

G: The first one : It would be the loosing city
politics. They’re not able to think right about citizen troubles, about
pollution, about the less school places….It’s a real french sucking side ! The
result is a kind of “money-ghetto” side that i’m not very proud of it. You’ve
got in some hundreds meters the rich quarter with a lot of public facilities
that are not really an evidence for it, and near it the less and poor one with a
lot of people in difficulties without any public aid. I’m very disappointed
about this, it’s not humanist at all ! The second one : Paris is so far from the
ocean and the mountains. What an idea to fix a capital city in a such “no-way”
area !! The third one : I hate the Paris St-Germain (it’s the local soccer club
), i prefer the Olympic of Marseille !!

/>G VS. EKO

G: EKO, you are both a
street-activist and a very good report media base with your website. You’ve
launched several street-art project (Don’Copy me, Access…). Why did you choose
this multiple action side in the street-art world ?

Eko:
The common point between my street work & the website is that I love
things that I can do without asking permission to anybody. I had been attracted
by internet & graffiti because you don’t need money,  or to know the right
people to do & show your work. When you love something (graffiti & street arts)
it seems normal to me that you want to share it with many people. Moreover when
I started ekosystem there were not much
medias to show that kind of work. I had just stopped making a copyzine and
wanted to do something new, I started the website. I think it would be a problem
to be at the same time a “street-activist” & a media, if I used other people
work for my own profit. But I don’t make any money with ekosystem and I try to
share the opportunities I can have thanks to the website with my friends &
contacts.

G: This last months, a lot of books (Art
of Rebellion, Street Logos…) were launched. According to myself they’re a kind
of paper ‘deluxe ’ version of your website. What do you think about this sort of
fashion moda in the edition ? And if an book editor company gives to you some
credits to make a book about street art what will it look like ?

/>Eko: It’s a good thing that such books are released about our
scene. Website life is short (and I don’t even talk about street work life
expectancy) when they died there is no traces.  In a few years we will probably
be happy to read them and remember the good old time. On the other hand many
people have the feeling that publishers like Die Gestalten make money with our
work and they don’t give us back anything (not even respect sometimes). It seems
easy to send a mail to Wooster & I asking to everybody to send photos to do a
cheap book. I think it would be fair that publishers give money to street-art
exhibitions to support us. If I had the opportunity to make a book, I wouldn’t
try to make a full panorama of our scene as it has already been done. I would
focus on a very few artists that I really like and I would asked them unknown &
exclusive work.

G: Let’s start dreaming! Let us
know which kind of star people (music, movie, etc…) you should be ?

/>Eko: Honestly I wouldn’t like to be a star. Hmm… Maybe a
music-producer that never shows his face like Mad Mike from Underground
Resistance or Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk…

G:
Except your family, what’s the most important thing in your daily life
? (and please don’t say your computer, I already know it )

/>Eko: (Don’t tell me you are not addicted to your computer too
I’ve stopped working for 9 months now. I wish I could stay a bit more
without working for a boss & a company. To be free and not be forced to work to
earn money is the biggest luxury to me. But like anyone else I need money for
food, my flat rent etc. I’m not sure my girlfriend & the Assedic (French
insurance unemployment) will put up with that too long.

G:
According to you, list us the 5 things a human must do in his life ?
(like growing a tree, having children, writing a book, etc…)

/>Eko: Certainly your hardest question to answer… My “life
philosophy” is not based on goals to achieve, moreover what can be good to me is
not necessary good for you. Life would be too easy (and boring) if we had to do
a few things like having sex with a model, raising children or jumping with
parachute from the Empire State Building to be happy.

Here is
nevertheless a few things that I have done and really enjoyed:

-
refuse to shake hands with a corrupted politician.

- make outdoor sex
on a summer starlight night in the country.

- refuse to wear a tie to
work.

- see his child smile you every morning.

- never
been able to give 5 names of soccer players from the same team

- to
drink a couple of beers with Captain Rouget.