February 2009: Gotcha in Fort Worth, TX

I've never spent an extensive period of time in Texas, but the Lone Star Staters I've met have been nothing but charming. My friend Nick is a fabulous screenplay writer who made traveling around Ireland a blast. On a road trip across the country, a pedestrian tipped his hat to me and commented on my 'fancy britches' (I was wearing purple spandex pants at the time). Today's post comes from Gotcha from Fort Worth. His passion for street art and neat style make me want to explore Texas and find the quirky bits that make it fun. Gotcha writes:

"I just got into stickers because my friend Shasta introduced me to the medium. I love the fact you can draw 'em at home and slap them up on the go with little fear of reprecussions, unlike when you get caught spraying. I like putting stickers in unlikely, almost unnoticible places, so when they do 'hopefully' get noticed, whoever sees them is just like, 'Damn, someone put something colorful 3/4 the way up that light pole. Badass!' If I could even get that reaction, that's enough. If not, I still get to see them sometimes and it brightens my day up.""Although I haven't really done any work that has specific political, social, or emotional meanings, I like to use public settings as a place to express myself. I put the alien bacteria sticker on the anouncement board right outside the cafeteria area of our union. You know if an alien came here, they'd be like, 'FUCK your leader! I heard about McDonalds all the way from Zelfar 5!'"

"I threw that STYLE up on the third story of the library so everyone walking up to campus gets a look at it. I'm really stoked about that spot 'cause I think it'll stay for a while and maybe people will be inspired to throw some shit up themselves. I use a couple different names. I use "STYLE" for my work that I put more thought into or what pieces I really want to represent my work. But I also throw up "GOTCHA!" as just a tag to throw around all over the place. I put it in really obvious in-your-face places like 'BAM! GOTCHA, BITCH!' It's kind of like an alter ego I use with my graffiti style. It's just fun putting your name out there all over the fucking place. But I seperate the two styles so it's almost like two different people."

"Anyway, I'm working on a lot more stuff. I'm trying to get into some more humorous stuff 'cause I love seeing street art that makes me laugh; it's the best! If I can do that to someone, then my life is good." 

'A new form of artistic reality can change the perspective on creative expression.' -StYle

Thanks, man! Your comments on the blog were too kind. I'm so glad you're getting something out of it. Like your stickers, if I can connect with one person and teach him or her something new each day, then I'm doing my job. Cheers!