The Art of Rebellion

Hi my name is Christian Hundertmark, i'm the author and designer of the book : The Art of Rebellion.
i'm 28 years old, started painting graffiti in 1989 then switched to so- called streetart three years ago.
i'm running a small design studio in munich called C100 studio, normally i work for clients in the music and sports industry.


Is Art of Rebelion your first book ?

yes it is, I'm so stoked because i didn't really expect such a great feedback.
Actually it all started really small, with some demo layouts which i presented to the publisher.
Now i hold a book in hands, together with a mix cd and we had a great book launch last weekend.
it's crazy!


Many books has already been published about graffiti. What makes your book special ?


I think first my book focuses on the term streetart (sorry i also hate that word but it's necessary to give it a name because otherwise so many people think it's "just " graffiti) and i think it's very personal with interviews mugshots, "behind the scenes photos, etc.. My aim was to give a greater audience than just us artists an insight on what's going on in the streets right now.
I'm really happy when someone who hasn't really recognised streetart in his city sees and understands what this is all about. it feels like making blind people see again.


Are you satisfied of the finished product ?


Yeah, definitely. i'm so stoked how many good photos , stickers, interviews and other material i got.
although i've seen the layouts the last six month every day, i'm still excited when i look at it.





What has been the harder on the making of the book ?

Actually i did the book beside my regular job as a graphic designer, which meant a lot of hours in the office, which was really hard.
Getting in email contact with some artist was quite a hustle, too but overall most of the artist really liked to contribute, i think.
Selecting from all these good photos wasn't very easy, too. i still have a lot of pics left, maybe i put them on the website later


About the book name : "The art of rebellion". Is it really your feeling, there's rebellion in most street work ?

It's not really a feeling i just think the name fits (bigup to suicidal tendencies) I think you can see it as a rebellious art movement, compared to all this "lazy" art hanging in museums.
Somehow it is an rebellious act to go out and do art ignoring existing rules, isn't it.


There's a CD included in the book, why such a collaboration with Florian Keller from Compost records ?

That's alos just happened somehow. i was at the Compost records office for a record sleeve job.
when they watched my portfolio which also had some layouts of the book in it michael reinboth (the owner) asked me if i'd like to include a cd. the next day we met and selected some records. florian keller then did the mix, within one week we had it all finished.


By the way what was the last records you played at home ?

This morning i listened to a mix cd from the Plastic jugganots, which they recorded at a radio show this year.
this one is awesome


There was a release event at "Die Registratur" in Munich on the 10th October. How was it for you ?

Man, i'm still excited when i think about that. we (Joseph from beautiful days prod and i) tried to get sponsors for the release event but they all weren't really interested or had their budgets planned for other stuff. so we decided to do it by ourself and share the cost.
Somehow all of a sudden a lot of great artists said they will come even i can't pay them the gas money or flights. compost records paid d*face flight, who helped me a lot - hessenmob- a german skatebrand.sent us some blank decks, which were painted during daytime + some printed boards by dave the chimp & kinsey, we also painted some canvases.
then in the evening we had a great party, music by the Plastic jugganots ( 5 turntables !!!)- massive!,
i remember dom from stickernation saying "this is like wildstyle".


Big up to:
Dave the chimp, D*face, Senior B, Emka, Plug, Stickerwar, Dom from Stickernation, Viagrafik, Olsen, Crooked Industries, Meat Love, Shit-inc, Socey, The Flower Guy, Flying Fortress, Font, Santy and the italian posse. thanks for coming!!!!!

Any project now, or you just need holidays ?

Unfortunately it's still quite stressful because i have to finish other jobs but i'm going to Barcelona this week for a small holiday.
Pez and Zosen are also organising a little release party there. I will send you photos....

Thanks for the interview!

cheers,

Chris





ekosystem october 2003