Vantagepoint Radio's tracks

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it’s 3:00pm on a tuesday afternoon at a crowded train station in Berlin. A young lady tucks her newspaper under her arm as her train pulls into the station to take her home. From the corner of her eye she sees something move in the bushes just past the end of the train platform. She gasps. It’s a dude with a ski mask over his face carrying a bag and jumping up onto the platform. He’s followed by 9 others all dressed in similar gear. As the train comes to a complete stop, all 10 drop their bags, pull out two massive spray paint cans (one for each hand), and proceed to get busy. The group moves without words but with an ironic speed, precision, and order not entirely unlike that of the german transit authority. In moments the entire train car is covered with paint. A cloud of dust hangs in the air as the commuters stand stunned and frozen, not getting on or off of the train. In a flash, the group gathers up their shit and bolts back down the platform, into the bushes, and are gone forever. As the dust cloud settles the young lady turns back to look at the train. Where she just moments ago saw the doors and windows of a train car, she now sees her own reflection looking back at her from within three massive chrome letters… 1 U P

Join JB and Tom this week for a very special eppisode of VantagePoint with the mysterious and fascinating 1UP crew

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Now a days in the art world it can seem as though marketing and a strong (social) media game are just as important as artistic vision and talent. It can also sometimes seem that those who run the scene’s blogs and print media hold supreme power over who does and does not succeed and rise to the top. Because of this, we here at VantagePoint welcome the opportunity, when it presents itself, to sit down with and pick the brain of those inside the scene with a perspective other than that of the artist. This week we did just that.

As managing editor of VNA Magazine Roland Henry has his fingers in many different pies. As if overseeing one of street art and graffiti’s leading and most highly regarded publications wasn’t enough, he seems to be taking on more and more every month. The title of ‘Curator’ is the most recent that he adds to his resume as this month sees the opening of Project M5, the much anticipated collaborative exhibition between Urban Nation and VNA Magazine, curated by none other than Mr. Henry himself. While in Berlin Henry was kind enough to sit down with us and have a chat.

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Here on VantagePoint we like to have fun and few shows were more fun to record than this one. A bottle of Jameson , a room full of beers, and our very first ever live studio audience surely set the tone for this weeks show. For episode 017 of VanteagPoint we are very happy to bring to you, from the dirty streets of London straight to your ear drums… Streetart Royalty… Sir BEN EINE!

EINE got an early jump into the graffiti game as a London teen and quickly became obsessed with painting his name on walls, trains and anything else he could get at. A bit of trouble with the police followed by a bit more may have helped motivate him to discover a new technique and approach that eventually transformed him into one of “Street art’s” most sought after muralists. His bold and crisp typographical murals can be seen in countless cities around the world making Ben a well traveled artist in very high demand. During a swing through Berlin to participate in Urban Nation’s ProjectM5 curated by Roland Henry from VNA magazine we grabbed Ben, strapped him into a chair, and hit record.

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Any close observer of the work of German artists BASE23 can easily see the connection between the boxy geometric characters that he paints and the 70′s era Japanese toys and robots that he’s been obsessively collecting for decades. His effortless understanding of shape, form, color, and perspective speak to his background in graphic design. The clean straight lines and nearly perfect execution of his wall paintings tells you that this guy has been painting for a LONG time (since the late 80′s in fact), and has mastered his craft…

In fact, it would be safe to say that he’s been cultivating his artistic voice for his entire life and may have inadvertently created the perfect storm to develop a style all of his own.

Although he splits his time between Germany’s two ‘Capitols of Cool’, Berlin and Hambug, BASE23 made time in his busy schedule to sit down with VantagePoint on a hot summer night, drink a couple of beers, and talk about it all.

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To step into the studio of TWOONE is to step into the reality that some artists are simply able to shine in multiple mediums and make it look easy. Painting, sculpture, murals, etchings… there’s very little that this guy doesn’t do and do well.

Born in Japan, and aged like a fine wine in Australia, TWOONE is now making a heavy presence in his new home of Berlin Germany. Upon arrival (literally in the first week he arrived) he actually painted a 1000+ square meter mural organized by the crew at Urban Nation. These days TWOONE is working hard in his new studio gearing up for two solo shows at both StolenSpace gallery in London and Backwoods gallery in Melbourne.

As busy as he is at the moment, it didn’t stop him from inviting JB and Tom over for a chat about everything that’s going on in his life these days, how he’s taking to his new home and his third major international relocation, and what we can expect from him in the future.

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At well over 6 feet tall and built like a MACK truck, when he enters the room, he’s hard to miss. Covered in tattoos and sporting a thick Hastings accent, it’s easy to jump to the assumption that this guy is more likely a cage fighter than an artist. Within seconds of talking with him however, you realize that Word To Mother is one very chilled out, genuine, down to earth dude with a great outlook on life and his place in the art world.

With a stronghold in the urban contemporary art scene going back almost a decade (to well before there even was an “urban contemporary” art scene) and ongoing relationships with some of the scenes leading galleries such as Stolenspace (LDN), Thinkspace (LA), and White Walls (SF), Word To Mother seems to be doing everything right. When asked what his secret is, the answer he gives is so honest and “bullshit free” that it’s almost surprising to hear it… “right place, right time… and just try to be nice to people.”

Join JB and Tom this week as we hear straight from the man himself about how deep friendships, selling sneakers, smoking weed, and listening to a lot of Nas’s 1994 classic album ‘Illmatic‘ could just be the perfect recipe for fame and glory in the street-art game.

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Around the globe he’s known as JAZ but to his friends and family in his native Argentina his name is Franco. Regardless of what you might know him by, there’s a good chance that some of his work has popped up on a wall in your city at some point in the last few years.

JAZ is one of the most sought after names in the urban contemporary art scene these days and he seems to be on the line up for just about every street art festival, of which there are many. He rides the mural circuit like a rock start on tour, leaving his home for months at a time flying from city to city leaving his mark wherever he lands. When you meet him, it’s no wonder why he is so popular. His work is powerful, original, creative, deep, symbolic and gives the viewer a strong sense of Franco’s culture and his Buenos Aires upbringing… and on top of all that, he’s a super nice guy.

JAZ’s work can be found indoors as well as out. His acrylic works on canvas have graced the walls of an increasingly impressive list of galleries worldwide with more and more solo shows coming up each year. JB and Tom caught up with Franco on a short stop in Berlin for his one man show at BC Gallery to talk about his work, his transition from graffiti to fine art, and what it takes to keep oneself in such high demand.

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Early in his “working class” upbringing in one of East Berlin’s more challenging neighborhoods, LAKE hit the streets and started what would become a lifelong painting career that has already spanned over three decades and shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. Adding rock climbing and studio artwork to his list of hobbies only increased his desire to travel the world and create. Any visitor to Germany’s capitol city has surely seen a LAKE piece and those who live here can’t help but see them just about every day.

This week JB and Tom sit down with Berlin’s most prolific muralists, LAKE for a very enlightening conversation. Among other fascinating topics such as how his hobby of rock climbing gives him a distinct advantage over other mural painters, Lake gives us his first hand account of what the East vs. West Berlin graffiti scene was like during and after the fall of the Wall.

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Thinkspace Gallery first opened it’s doors in 2005 and quickly became a force to recon with in the Los Angeles contemporary art scene. In the past decade the gallery, run by husband and wife duo Andrew and Shawn Hosner along with partner L. Croskey, has helped launch the careers of many of todays contemporary art stars. Aside from their Culver City gallery, Thinkspace also curates exhibitions and festivals around the world taking their impressive roster of artists on the road.

Recently the duo was in Berlin for their highly anticipated pop up show titled LAX/TXL while simultaneously overseeing the fourth installment of the Project M series, both hosted by Urban Nation, curated by Thinkspace, and opening on the same night on opposite sides of the street. It was a whirlwind of a week to say the least but thankfully Andrew and Shawn were kind enough to set aside an hour of their valuable time to sit down and talk with JB and Tom and give our VantagePoint listeners a little insight into all things Thinkspace.

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Any good investment advisor will tell you that the safest and smartest way to invest in your future is to have a diverse portfolio. If this is also true in the art game then Buff Monster has a bright future. With over 10 years rockin and successful ventures into everything from gallery shows, toy design, murals, apparel, collectables, and a client list with names such as Coca-Cola, Converse, MTV, and Disney… Buff Monster seems to have figured out what it takes to keep the ball rolling.

While on a short visit to Berlin for a quick one man exhibition and to give a talk at a big art conference, Buff Monster agreed to sit down with JB and Tom in a small dark hallway and answer a few questions.