BigShinyThing

King Adz responded with this. Read on without prejudice.

There we were, in an abandoned housing estate in Batley, Yorkshire, and whilst filming Blek pasting a poster, a gang of chavs attacked us. The biggest US street art website, (www.woostercollective.com) ran the story the next day, they put it straight up; they were so eager I was surprised. 12 hours later they took it down as ‘the name “chavs” is a derogatory term and that people were offended’. The fact that someone has begun to rally behind the ‘chav’ cause is an interesting point. They must be American…

When the chavs came around the corner 15 strong, lobbing 1/2 bricks, they didn’t need any backing up, and they don’t now. They can fight well enough without the support of the street art community (a member of which they just happened to be attacking).

The bogus marketing men would have us believe that all youth are into graffiti. The Blek/Chav story proves otherwise. The fake advert would have the chavs rolling up and then chilling with Blek, watching him work, in awe… maybe at some point someone would crack open a refreshing can of soda… Not try to crack Blek’s skull open with a well-aimed lob of a standard issue house brick…

One explanation to what happened is that two manufactured subcultures (Street Art ‘vs’ Chav) met in the street. Neither subcultures are real. Both have been created to divert the attention away from anything of real substance; from what is actually happening in the world. Both are there to keep its members down, away from creating any real trouble. I am aware of this. To be an active part of a subculture means you have swallowed the bullshit, the myth. Street Art/Counter-culture is as mainstream as Hello magazine. If you think you are outside of the system cos you paint stencils or stickers or whatever little twist you’ve given it, think again. I’m not talking about Graffiti Legends here (Blek;Seen;Revolt;Quik;Obey;Lee;DrD;Bozacl Nation) or pioneers of the media. I’m talking about any 15 year old in any European country who thinks he’s Che Guervara, cos he sprays a pathetic toaster or Iron or Kettle on walls all over the place.

When the gang of Chavs rounded the corner I was not in the least bit surprised. I almost was expecting to see them. I’ve got down with Muslim Gangsters in the Cape Flats in South Africa, I’ve been to mental places with GangBangers in the high numbers in Harlem, I’ve been nearly kidnapped in India… and I’m not even a photo-journalist. I’m just there checking it out so I know what is authentic and what is manufactured. Who is real and who is fake. What to do and what to leave…

Adz’s films of Blek and other street artists are viewable on 100proof.tv .