To
realize just how far and “global” the graf and street art scene has become - as
well as how fucking powerful the internet is - one needs to go no further then
Rake, a 16 year old artist from, of all places, Bulgaria. 

We first
heard from Rake a few weeks ago when he sent us a terrific email about his
thoughts on our question - “What the hell should we call this thing?” (see posts
from a few weeks back if you are new the the site). 

To be honest,
we’ve been blown away by how international the Wooster site is.  Getting an
email from a 16 year old graf and street artist from Bulgaria shouldn’t surprise
us in this day and age. But it did.  It reminded us just how much the world has
changed during our lifetime. For us, the images of Bulgaria and Romania as being
two of the most dark, isolated and closed Communist countries in the world are
still fresh in our minds.  So there was something about Rake talking about goin’
“All City” as well as his passion for artists such as Banksy, Shepard Fairey,
Miss Van, and Os Gemeos, that truly blew us away.

Rake:

/>Age: 16
Hometown: Plovdiv, South
Bulgaria
Where do you now live?: Plovdiv
/>Where would you most like to live?: I have always wanted to
live in Poland
Who was your first “hero” in life?: About
street art it was akaysm and warszawa social stencils, i saw in a polish
magazine some pages with akay and it was pretty interesting
What is
your favorite thing to do on your day off from work?: I’m studying in
an art school in Plovdiv so its not so boring there, about free time - i like
going out with friends, serial bombing in my city, taggin, cutting stencils,
drawing…i like doing many things in the same time. I’m travelling alot here in
bulgaria, the conditions are very good
cheap train tickets, friendly
people, low police activity, i like guests form all over the country and world,
bulgaria is a small
one so me and my firends are travelling very often so
everyone who wants to come and make some stuff here have just to write me an e-
mail to rake@abv.bg I love situation here in bulgaria because everyone makes
everything by himself -allmost everything is hand made and unique, in western
world allmost everyone use computers, ploters, printers, font dingbats etc. i
think that its fuckin stupid, everyone can get a photo from a magazine and make
a stencil with some computer programs, cut it with a ploter… be an individual
artist, its the key of everything, read my esse about the postgraffiti, BIg up
to woostercollective for actual news and good stuff keep it real and watchout
for brainwash
What is your favorite color?: Its hard to
say because every surface or combination needs another color, so i can’t
decide
Who (or what) do you love?: i love my family, my
friends, world art scene

Who and/or what are some of your
influences?:

I have many influences- my life,
bulgarian community, urbanism of the city, oldschool, anarchy, communism,
democracy…if you’re talking about artists- AKAY, FLYING FORTRESS, ANDY HOWELL,
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, DAVID HOCKNEY, JACE, MACK PLAKT, BANKSY, OBEY, MISSY VAN, OS
GEMEOS, ABOVE ..... i like many individual works not only the artists because
every artist is a kind of brand and there are good and weak products from every
brand, almost every artist have a single good stuff, big up to bulgarian freaks
- LBCnetwork terror, Ntn rockers, CAMO who lives in san francisco now, big
respect for my man NARKO, i like scandinavian train bombings, brazilian tags,
NY throw-ups, Zagreb scene, Berlin silvers, polish stuff etc.

/>

/>How would you describe your art to someone who could not see it?


I can’t exactly describe my art beacause i’m changing
it from day to day and trying new techniques,art forms etc. but
actually
my art is non commercial, anticapitalisti, antiglobalistic art. I’m making many
things in Bulgaria legal and illegal because the laws are not so improved and
there isn’t any graffiti police or laws about it, it is just pure vandalism, i
like idea about ALL CITY and i’m trying to keep it, i have legal spots here in
Plovdiv, bombs, stickers, stencils, tags, throw-ups, trains, line bombing,
posters and i can see my name everywhere in the city.There are terror and
anticapitalistic motives in my stuff,elements from basic
art,blueprints,oldschool

What other talent would you most
like to have?

I had always wanted to make music
/>
What do you fear the most?

Stupid
community,all kind of systems against human freedom etc.

/>What is your greatest ambition?

My
greatest ambition is to finish my own website, I’m working on graff/street art
film about bulgarian scene. I want to
visit many european/world countries
and to make some stuff there.But the most important for me is to keep
painting.

Here’s what Rake wrote to us in regards to “What
The Hell Should We Call This Thing?”:

“I think that street
art is not exactly post graffiti, actually graffiti is a street art - street art
is graffiti. but what does it mean graffiti? it is not just a a word, this is an
expression, a lifestyle, I think that you shouldn’t o only one thing all the
time, you can also keep painting, photographing, bombing trains, throwing up,
sticking etc. graffiti is something so huge
and enormous, graffiti
includes many forms of art and expressions and art perfprmances, when you’re
going to bomb or to stick in - its a kind of new form of art performance and the
result in many cases isn’t so important as the painting, the situation and
memorys. Actually you are making all this shit for you and for the ussual folks
wich are waiting for bus at the station and reading your message. in bulgaria it
is something really new and strange, people didn’t expect to see a stencil or
sticker with political/social message they’re expecting to see an fuckin
advertisement…in the smallest countries like bulgaria nad many other
european/world where the system and generations are chnagin very fast most of
the people doesn’t ask themselves about globalism, massmedia and all kind off
manipulations, most of the people in the world are living second hand live, they
are watchin fuckin tv, searchin the internet, massmedia deciades whats good for
them and whats worse, they are wathcing the tv news wich are strictly censored
and manipulated and they had been brainwahsed, but the worst thing is that they
didn’t realise it because most of people looks like them…the real way to find
yourself is to be unique and individual,your art will always have an influence
from real world but the influences
are something usual.. just think about
it,your whole life is one big influence,everyone have his personal(brain space,
therythory)and it has been attacked daily by everything arround him, and his art
is actually a print of whole this shit, you will say that it doesn’t have
nothing to do with the question…see ya next time in the damn streets and
staions..