Interview #1

M Today is March 6, I’m Michelle Tu. I’m with my cousin Carina Ng. Tell me about yourself – no actually just talk about the school you go to.

C I go to Laguardia high school – in Manhattan  and – (oh god I’m awful at interviews)

M Do you see like – oh yeah, you were going to say your major ?

C no. I mean I’m an art major, there.

M Yeah so do you any graffiti in your school ?

C I mean I guess you would count, like, marker drawings on the bathroom yeah I see that.

M have you done graffiti yourself? Any sneaky vandalism?

C No, no. I don’t have a sharpie on me ever.

M So what do you think of graffiti itself?

C I think it’s a cool artwork. Clearly, a lot of graffiti artists use a lot of time to hone their skills, so I think it’s legit.

M do you think the act of vandalism and the art they’re portraying give it an even greater purpose?

C I think that like, if that’s what the artist intends. To be honest, I don’t agree with vandalism – I could see like why people would dislike vandalism because if someone drew on my store and I had to clean it up I’d be pissed off, but as an art form it’s pretty cool.

M Do you know Banksy?

C No, I don’t know any of those

M He does a lot of graffiti art and it’s really expensive and I’m like woah, I never knew graffiti could be so expensive.

C Is it like mural painting?

M No it’s usually like a very powerful message portrayed by really simple graffiti on a wall somewhere.

M So what would define graffiti as?

C I mean, I guess it’s kind of vague, but like I feel like graffiti has a certain style, like the bubbly letters and the lightning – like the arrow stuff – and more like street art and in places hard to reach, which is sort of like the big point of graffiti.

M In your school do you only see in the bathroom stalls?

C I mean would you count drawings on desks?

M Yeah! Because like I used to do that all the time in Laguardia. Don’t tell anyone.

C I saw it on my desk

M Wait really?

C I saw it on my desk sitting there – yeah in Mr. Moore’s class

[conversation goes on pretty interesting tangent]

M So do you see any like strange stuff on your lockers in school?

C Only like when people take sharpies and write on your lockers – like your friends

M Oh yeah! One of the pictures I took – because in our school we have to share lockers, which is kinda really bad. So there was this message that said like “Fix this shit it’s jamming the locker.”

C Oh my god that’s so passive aggressive

M Yeah and what happens if they see each other. “It was you who jammed the locker wasn’t it? Let’s fight.”

C Let’s go.

M Now, the last question, if you could mark, graffiti or vandalize somewhere in the school where would it be?

C I would do it on the staircase, it’s risky because the security has cameras, I saw it by through the window, but like on the eighth floor would be a good chance to do it.

[small tangent]

C Yeah but you know how you can look under by the stairs on the eighth floor?

M Yeah yeah

C There was actually someone who used masking tape to make, I forgot what it said, but they had to do it upside down because you couldn’t reach there since it’s too high. And you’d be able to see it because people keep going in and out and they’d be like “Woooah”.

M Was it like a nice message?

C I think it was pretty pointless. It was something random.

[references the tangent]

M Yeah I thought you’d choose like the bathroom stall or something because that’s a very popular place to do it (what did I even say here I can’t even hear myself??)

C Yeah but like it always gets painted over. That’s why I don’t find the point of people drawing on it.

M Or maybe they do because they wanna rebel.

C I mean yeah, they’re always rebelling in the bathroom. They’re always like “Down with the principal!!”

M Oh my god seriously?

C Something like that.

[conversation gets a little spooky]

M -And that concludes this interview. Goobyee-

Interview #2

M Today’s date is, I don’t even remember what was it again. It’s March six (I want to point out that I was recording interview one and two on the same day). I’m with my friend Alyssa. Tell us about yourself Alyssa.

A I’m a nineteen year old, illustration and psychology major from Queens.

M Hey I’m from queens too!

A Queens is the best.

M You right it is the best. So have you ever vandalized anything?

A The bathroom stalls at our high school.

M Oh yeah I was talking to my cousin about that and she mentioned the bathroom stalls too.

A Yeah I think that’s the extent of my vandalism (forewarning: it’s not)

M What’d you do?

A Honestly, I don’t know. I think I was angry at someone and I wrote “they suck” in the locker room.

M That’s the most like, soft vandalism.

A Oh! The penis wall (at this point the whole idea of a formal interview has been cast away) was right next to my locker so I added to that.

[interesting small tangent about the penis wall]

M So how’d you define graffiti?

A I guess writing or drawing on a public space that is not yours.

[small tangent about fake graffiti]

M So what do you think of it as an art form?

A I think that it works well as an art form in some spaces, but then we have artists who make it white-collared – the ones who are like “ooo, let’s bring graffiti to the MoMA or the Met. That kinda thing –

M Oh, I’ve never seen that stuff

A -like Banksy

M Oh I’ve seen Banksy’s stuff though

A Yeah his art is so much. But graffiti street art is like “oh no those people should be arrested” but Banksy should be awarded. So it’s like that dichotomy of like who’s worthy?

M I think it’s like the message behind Banksy stuff? (Now that I think about it, street art can also be like this though)

A I think it’s just because white people love Banksy (I’m sorry if anyone gets uncomfortable here). Oh we don’t know who Banksy is, but they love him.

[small conspiracy tangent of Banksy and 5pointz]

M Have you seen graffiti in our school? Or like any types of vandalism?

A I don’t think so, maybe I’m not paying enough attention.

M Right by my classroom for this project, there’s like graffiti all over the lockers on the floor.

A Oh I forgot about the lockers.

M Yeah it’s always on the lockers.

[tangent of her not only vandalizing bathroom stalls, see I told you she did more and also somehow about Boston]

M So what kind of stuff did you see on the lockers?

A Mainly stickers. My locker is way up in the middle of nowhere where they’re all broken and no one goes there. It’s mainly like seven-year-old stickers partially rubbed off.

M That’s so cool I wish I had gone there to record it.

A No they look like trash.

M Oh okay shit. Because some of the stickers I saw had a date on it and it was like one from 2011 and 2008 (pretty sure I got the dates entirely wrong here).

A Some people advertise or like self-promote. They have a sticker of their company or name on it and they just stick it places and it’s like “ooo, is this vandalism or self-promotion?” – probably both.

M Yeah it is – wait a minute – and they don’t have to pay either. There’s like this one locker that just has their Instagram on it.

A Oh yeah I’ve seen that!

M Yeah it’s like right by our (old) studio.

A Or people just put like their handles “follow me” and it’s just like their Instagram. Self-promotion is the main type of vandalism in our school.

M Yeah wait I think we’ve figured it out, just self-promotion and it’s just like some graffiti artist trying to make it big on the lockers.

A You’d think there’d be more graffiti seeing that it’s an art school.

M I know in like the laser printing building they have like this graffiti room.

A Maybe it’s too encouraged. It’s so encouraged that people don’t wanna vandalize.

M “Well I’m not really vandalizing anymore soo-”

A “-So it’s no fun.” They have to rebel by not vandalizing.

[me reaching enlightenment]

M And now the last question, if you mark, graffiti or vandalize anything in the school where would it be?

A Hmm… It’s really juvenile, but I’d go to the main, like the elevator to the Keri (?) hall dorms and put a giant penis on it. (And on that day I learned of my friend obsession with drawing penises).

M WHAT, I think the penis wall actually got to you.

[tangent on the penis wall]

A -that’s what I’d want. I wanna bring the penis wall here, but I’d want it to be the Keri dorms elevator because I’m angry. They live so close I’m bitter.

M Oh yeah that too.

A That’s why I’m bitter. [sassily smacks lips]. They live like ten steps away from the building – I live like an hour away.

M Same.

A Bitter teen.

M So thank you for being here –

A You’re welcome.

M -for this interview. That is all.

Interview #3 (forewarning that the interview cuts into text-to-speech because it was late night and both of us couldn’t talk)

M Alright it’s almost – alright it’s not almost it’s 12:02 and I’m with my friend sandy. Introduce yourself.

S Hi, I’m Sandy Zhou and I go to the School of Visual Arts.

M Okay so, have you ever vandalized before.

S I have never vandalized before.

M Like graffiti or?

S No

M Really?

S Mhm

M Wow you’re such a good student. I’d would draw on my desk all the time.

S I’d be the one erasing the drawings.

M So what is graffiti defined as to you?

S Just arts/doodles within public view usually breaking a rule.

M What kind of vandalism or graffiti do you see on a daily basis in school and around that community?

S There isn’t much graffiti or vandalism around the school since it is usually a permissioned wall and artists paint on it.

M (If I could talk more and instead of being sneaky) Wow that’s really cool, I don’t know if our school does that, but they should totally do that more.

S What do you think of it as an art form, like in museums and as a high end art? Graffiti works are also from talented artists but, they are usually painted in areas that are not allowed which makes it undesired by most. (She mostly was neutral with graffiti being a high end art, and I should have asked her what she thought about graffiti being super expensive then)

M Do you think graffiti done in an art school makes it more meaningful?

S If (my) school were to provide classes for graffiti, it would make it more known to people that it is another form of art to express ourselves and for the term to not be just known as vandalization on public areas.

M And if you could vandalize, mark, graffiti anywhere in your school where would it be?

S It would be on a hallway where everyone walks through everyday and they can pass by the art and observe it.

M Damn, I dunno, I thought you’d actually vandalize. What a good student. Thank you for this tts (text to speech) interview.

S You very welcome.

M Any last words before I end the interview?

S I love Michelle Tu.

M Ok ok ok-

==========================
For my second interview with my friend Alyssa, I opened the interview with the question “Have you ever vandalized before?” and I should have known, her being the rebel and “emo kid” she is, that she would have immediately started talking about silly shenanigans from high school. Although we were probably supposed to keep the interviews formal, all my interviews except the restricted third one with my friend Sandy done at 12 in the morning (but that’s besides the point because I’m sure if we could talk it would have also gone onto strange tangents maybe – most likely). It’s hard to stay neutral when conversing with a friend because you might find yourself naturally agreeing with them and when seeing potential and value behind their points – to be able to stay neutral means to take an observing and calculating stance as a researcher, but a good interviewer would dig more into the interviewees’ perspective, which might mean, metaphorically or not, nodding along or playing devil’s advocate in order to find out more. However, the joy of interviewing multiple people is that you find out different perspectives with the (well almost) same questions. It’s almost like a science experiment with its constants and independent and dependent variables. Because the interview with my friend Alyssa went downhill so fast (or maybe not, maybe it was actually uphill), we went on some really fun tangents that I didn’t really transcribe, but they were mostly about a comparison of our high school, Laguardia, and Parsons and the real highlight of the interview, the conspiracy of Banksy having some furtive connections with extremely powerful and wealthy patrons in the high-end art society, which I’m sure (kind of sure) that this was case, since it’s pretty much how many artists started like Jackson Pollock. After discovering about the reasons for his rise in the art world, it made effortless to see it happening to other artists especially if they had a quirk or idiocracy, such as Banksy’s rebellious and anonymous nature as a graffiti artist. So I think it’d interesting to research the origins of graffiti to becoming, not fully, but considered also as an art form, to the level of being displayed in museums.