Exclusive Interview with INK & CLOG

Siam2nite had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with INK & CLOG, shortly before their participation at Meeting of Styles Chiang Mai 2015 on 17th-18th April.

You are artists from Singapore and you have made yourself a name especially as graffiti artists. How did you meet, what made you team up and how is the role allocation when you are working as creative duo?

We met back in 2004, during a graffiti competition where Inkten was one of the contestants and Clogtwo was one of the judges. That was the first time we met each other and later on we started communicating and sharing artworks on the Internet. The social media realm was not really strong yet at that point of time, so we usually meet each other together with other writers and discuss ideas and hangout at the writers bench and the local skate park.

We have never lost contact since, and we make it a point to occasionally meet up and hangout. Clogtwo studied video design in college while Inkten majored in Graphic Design. Although we were from different backgrounds, graffiti still get us excited and it was the one thing that keep us alive and connected. It wasn’t until 2009 when we started collaborating on for a commissioned piece and realized that we can experiment on more techniques and ideas to develop a single unified artwork that speaks entirely on the platform of the future of writing. We always respected the foundation and honor it’s movement ever since we started writing on walls. And as move forward towards the idea of evolving and innovating the art, our motive and purpose is to bring it on a higher level of appreciation.

We play two different roles in terms of minds, Inkten is grasping on the concept and ideology of the piece. Where else, Clogtwo is submerged in the importance of techniques and visual interceptions. With the theory of cranking both the logical and creative part of the brain, we managed to formulate a system that enable us to mobilize when we switch to painting on walls.

How did you get in touch with graffiti in the first place?

Clogtwo started off by stealing paints back in his high school’s workshop. And started his first piece in a canal where graffiti writers used to paint when there weren’t any legal walls to start with. Unfortunately, he didn’t manage to finish his first piece as most of his caps got clogged; hence, the tagname, Clog. At that point of time, he never knew by stealing a few paints at the school’s workshop would made him into a serious writer. The number two is a self-reminder, constantly telling him that to stay humble and keep evolving to the top.

Inkten started graffiti back in high school when she started vandalizing the school’s tables and often check out the seniors’ classrooms where they beautify their school tables with letters and characters. They even carved out their own tables with graffiti fonts. The feeling and satisfaction when looking at these was very surreal. Inkten never stopped looking at markers and letters the same way again. She started picking up the spray cans with help from her seniors in school and started painting outside at 14 years old.

Which pieces are you especially proud of and/or would you suggest as an introduction to your art and where can people have a look at them?

Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, was the first invitation we got to travel to the other side of the world to paint a mural. For Singaporeans, we do not have that much legal spots and the penalty for bombing is up to 4 years imprisonment and 4 strokes of the cane. Thus, to be presented with a 3 stories facade, we were really beyond excited to destroy it.

We painted two legendary stories of Hang Tuah and Putri Gunung Ledang. We wanted to tell stories and educate people about our heritage, culture and race, due to the fact that we travel half the world.

Ever since, we’ve been addicted to travelling, meeting new writers and building new connections through our art. We finally found home, the world. Our friends are also made from all across the globe.

What were the best and the worst experiences you ever made as graffiti artists and was the funniest story ever occurred while painting graffiti?

We wouldn’t want to lie that there’s no bad experience. But we’ve always looked at it at a positive perspective. Our experiences come from when we are on our trips, and we end up missing our flights or running around panicking forgetting stuffs. But most of the times, we always have fun painting walls with new friends and enjoying the process and lastly, indulging the end product.

Probably the funniest story would be when we are in Shoreditch, London, United Kingdom for an event called Street Festival 2014. A few days before the event we wanted to paint with Gent48, Tizer and JimVision at a local wall. So we thought it was a legal spot, so our minds were set to relax mode and pacing ourselves till the piece is done. But after we have finished our piece, we were told that the wall was actually illegal, and passersby would top and took photo of us painting. We were pretty lucky that day, and soon after that, it was difficult to paint on that wall.

What can you tell us about the graffiti scene in Singapore and how are the legal conditions there?

The graffiti community in Singapore is pretty small, perhaps because there is really not much space for us to paint. The charges and penalties being implied for vandalism and graffiti in this country are considered to be the harshest in the world. You will get caned and serve a few years in jail if you were to get caught.

There are still legal walls for us to paint but most of them are usually secluded and can’t really be viewed by the public unless you really find it. However, we are still happy with the fact that there are still legal places to paint and practice here. It just makes us stronger and makes us push ouselves further in this scene.

On 17-19 April you will paint live at the Meeting of Styles Thailand in Chiang Mai. Have you visited Thailand before? What are your plans for the event?

This will be our first time in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We can’t wait to meet up with the Thai writers and jam on the wall together. We would love to learn its culture and lifestyle. And it would also be extremely fun to paint on the local walls as well.