Thursday, May 12, 2011

Mysterious Skins

Ever gone to jail with your best friend?

Such is the life of local street artists No Touching Ground and NKO , who spray and paste the (mostly) blank walls of our city. Guaranteed you have seen their craft before, whether at one of their many gallery exhibitions around Seattle, at the Vera Project , or just walking past
ValVil on the hill.

For obvious reasons, NTG and NKO wanted to remain anonymous in the photos, so we dressed them up like banditos and Bedouins for their shoot. I didn't have to do much: these guys knew what looked gooood.

Make sure to check out those links of NTG and NKO's work. It's fucking awesome.

Also, we are getting rid of the slideshow. The software was too sassy.







Click HERE to see the
rest of the boys' photoshoot.


What is your sign?
NTG- I’m a Pisces… on the cusp I think.
NKO- I am a Taurus.

What is your spirit animal?
NTG- Probably a coyote.
NKO- Definitely a dolphin.

How did you two meet?
NKO- We both lived in these artist lofts on 3rd and Jackson…
NTG- Yeah, we all got evicted.

What is the best city in the world for street art?
NTG- There are so many great places. NYC is sort of an originator, but cities like Sao
Paolo are amazing too, it’s like an inheritor of New York’s style with a lot of outside
influences.
NKO- Yeah, Seattle and Portland are probably the worst. Eastern European cities are
good right now, just because their culture doesn’t hate graffiti yet.

What other artists do you find most inspirational?
NTG- NKO is my most influential artist. But I like (German artist) Anselm Kiefer
a lot. Also everyone in the Free Sheep Foundation and Implied Violence
NKO- Definitely Implied Violence and NTG, but I don’t really pay any attention to
modern art.

Who are your favorite local musicians at the moment?
NTG- I would say The Dead Science. Also Specswizard and Truckasaurus.
NKO- Truckasaurus. Plus this new band called Scape, I guess you’d call them stoner
jazz.

What is your favorite medium to work with?
NTG- I probably use paper, water color, and adhesive the most.
NKO- Just spray paint and marsh ink for me.

Have you ever gotten caught?
NKO- Yep. Occasionally you have to go to jail.
NTG- Whenever you’re doing something looked down upon, you’re going to have some
run-ins… and do some running…

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