On the eve of their group show at Come Back Daily, NYC street artists Antennae, Raddington Falls and Marzipan Physics sat down to talk about loving and hating the ‘gram, why they stay in NYC, the ins and outs of street art etiquette, and some of their indispensable tools of the trade.
ON INSTAGRAM
Antennae: I think that it’s the best way for you to have your stuff seen by people who wouldn’t otherwise see it. That’s probably the only good thing about it. Besides that, I hate it because it propels and perpetuates commercialization. Because you have the fake accounts that will like your shit and make your shit look more popular. And it’s a game of likes, that’s all it’s judged by. And then you have the people who wouldn’t like something even if they do like it, and they will like something even if they don’t like it.
Marzipan Physics: For me It depends on what mood I’m in. If I’m in a bad mood and I go on Instagram. and I start to compare myself to everyone else, then I feel bad. But if I’m in a good mood, I go on Instagram and it’s like, “Oh look at all these inspiring artists! I’m supporting other people’s work and they’re giving me positive feedback and good vibes and it’s all good!” So it’s largely just how you look at it. I try not to pay that much attention to like how many likes I get or how many followers I have and if I can sustain that kind of mentality, then Instagram is a positive thing. Because I’m getting more people to see my work and react to my work than would ever be possible without it.
Antennae: That’s what I’m saying, because if everyone lived on Instagram, your opportunities would be as good as your popularity, not how good of an artist you are.
Marzipan: Yes, I agree, people do get opportunities, based on how many followers they have, but not always. I get opportunities through Instagram and I don’t have a ton of followers, so I know it’s because people like my work!
Antennae: I wish to god I could quit it but I can’t. Well, I can quit it but I choose not to yet! I mean, Turtlecaps came off [Instagram]. I think that that would be a success story to say, “I was able to get off this platform and people still know who I am and are still learning who I am.” And if you gauge the test of time, it’s gonna end one day.
Marzipan: Yeah. And it’s bad to put so much of your career and your life in the hands of fucking Mark Zuckerberg, because he doesn’t give a shit about you. And if he decides to change the algorithm one day so that nobody sees your shit, then you’re screwed.
Raddington Falls: I love that Instagram is still great platform for artists. I love that it is an open playing field. I like the access of it. I like being able to contact artists that I wouldn’t normally be able to. I’ve met a lot of great people through Instagram, Antennae being one of them! And it’s still fun for me. And I mean, it’s fun until it isn’t, right? You can get in a rut and hope for more engagement, but I can’t worry about it.
Marzipan: Yeah. You can’t take it personally. I just think as long as you’re not fixating on numbers, it can remain fun and positive. And there’s no reason to fixate on numbers, because being popular doesn’t mean you’re good. It just means you’re popular!
Antennae: That’s for sure.
ON NYC LIFE
Marzipan: Have you considered leaving New York City? And if so, where would you go?
Raddington: Back to LA. It wasn’t until living in New York for several years that I realized that I missed Los Angeles. Being bi-coastal would be ideal. I feel like my work would actually be well received there, too.
Marzipan: Oh totally! I don’t really have anywhere else to go [laughter]. Well, not that I would want to! I love New York. It’s love/hate but it’s mostly love. New York inspires me like no other place. I could move somewhere and have a lower cost of living and probably a higher quality of living, but I don’t think I would be as inspired.
Raddington: So how would you compare New York to your hometown, Antennae [New Orleans]?
Antennae: I like living here better. I miss back home, but I don’t think I can live back home after being here for so long.
Raddington: So what is it that keeps you here?
Antennae: The pace of it, and the inspiration. The first time I visited, I just felt more connected with myself here. I felt satisfied being here. Like for the energy, like the fact that everybody minds their own business. [laughter]
Marzipan: I think there’s a higher concentration of creative people here than probably anywhere else.
Antennae: It makes you feel like you have to keep up with everybody.
Marzipan: Yeah, it’s a kick in the ass. Because there are so many people here with so much energy and so much hustle.
Antennae: It almost doesn’t allow you to be lazy.
Marzipan: Yes, and the negative side of that is beating yourself up for not keeping up with everyone else but the positive side is that it does motivate you to do more than you would if you were just living in suburbs somewhere, surrounded by soccer moms.
Antennae: When I first moved here, I felt so alive. Just walking around with headphones on and music and just absorbing and exploring, it was so electrifying… just eating, walking around, gathering up all the information.
Raddington: I love New York. There are still neighborhoods I walk through, and not because I have to get from A to B, but because I want to be there and I enjoy the vibe and see what’s new. It still really makes me happy.
Marzipan: Whenever I have time to just wander through a neighborhood it’s my favorite thing to do. Unfortunately I hardly ever have time to do it these days, but that’s one of the reasons I love wheatpasting; it gives me an excuse to wander around and explore a neighborhood. It’s so much fun.
Antennae: Yeah, that’s why I love doing street art stuff so much. I didn’t plan to do it when I first came here, but it was like, art and mischief mixed together. [laughter] I mean, I feel most comfortable doing something I’m not supposed to be doing!
Raddington: Do you remember the first time you made street art?
Antennae: Yeah. When I was growing up in New Orleans I did stickers.
Marzipan: The first time I wheatpasted I was with you, RAD. You showed me the ropes!
Raddington: Oh right, the first time I met you I invited you to come along!
Marzipan: Yeah, and then I got hooked!
ON REMAiNING ANONYMOUS (OR NOT)
Antennae: I definitely don’t want to be in the center of attention with my face all over the place. But I’m not gonna sit there and wear a mask all the time and act like I’m an outlaw from the Wild West! [laughter]
Marzipan: Right, but if you’re out pasting, are you worried that someone’s gonna snap a picture of you pasting and send it to the authorities? That definitely is a concern to me, but that said, I never wear a mask when I’m out pasting!
Antennae: I’ve heard stories about that but from what I understand, if somebody has a picture or video of you doing it, that’s probably not even enough! What are they gonna do, come find you?
Marzipan: They’d have to be really crazy! I mean it’s possible but it’s highly improbable that someone would do that.
Antennae: Right, exactly. It would be like a shit show trying to prove that. But, yeah, I’m not gonna take an instagram video of me [pasting] and be like, “Hey guys!” But I’m also not acting like I’m behind the shadows and you can’t see me.
Marzipan: You’re not going to be like Banksy. He takes it to an extreme. But I think there’s a value in that. I think that’s been a huge contributing factor to his success, that he has this mystique because nobody knows who he is.
Raddington: It’s not just that, I think there’s also the idea that you should let the work speak for itself—that it should be more about the artwork than the artist.
Marzipan: For me the anonymity thing just meshes with my personality, which is I that I don’t like to be in the spotlight and I hate being photographed. I hate being on camera. My preference is to be in the background and be anonymous. And I do get slightly paranoid about surveillance and the lack of privacy in our current society, and that’s an issue that makes me uncomfortable even outside of street art. So, I guess it’s a combination of those two things. And the fact that, you know, we’re doing something that’s illegal and could potentially be a prosecutable offense!
Antennae: Exactly. I remember when I started playing music, one of my reasons for starting to play bass was because I was like, “I don’t want to be a guitar player and have everybody concerned about what I’m doing. I want to be in the background.”
ON GOING OVER PEOPLE
Raddington: In general, I don’t mind. It’s street art. It’s ephemeral by nature, it doesn’t last. However, if it’s deliberate, then that’s different. There’s someone who goes completely over people and calls it a “forced collab.” And others will defend them saying “Oh, that’s just how they are.”
Marzipan: I think if you’re covering less than 15% of someone’s piece that’s not a big deal because there’s going to be overlap, we live in New York City and space is limited! It’s hard to get up if you don’t at least cover a little tiny bit of someone or go over a tag or something. If you go over someone’s entire piece, that to me is not cool and I don’t do that, and if someone does it to me I get upset!
Antennae: I think it’s a per case basis. Like, if I put something up on the Basquiat door I’m almost positive that’s not gonna last long. It’s ephemeral, it’s gonna come and go. But what pisses me off is when you get a DM from somebody like they’re the police. It’s like, let’s everybody remind ourselves that we’re all doing something not right.
Marzipan: Yeah, more annoying to me than someone going over me is someone policing me.
Antennae: Yeah, I’ll deal with the consequences!
Marzipan: Exactly. If the person I went over is upset, then they’ll tell me.
Raddington: Some people think that they are curating their streets.
Antennae: The whole fucking city’s curated now. And like, fuck you, because you know what, I’m gonna fucking do it anyway. Nobody wants anybody doing any of this shit on their building.
Marzipan: Right. I mean, that’s part of the appeal of street art for a lot of street artists, is the lawlessness of it and that there are no rules. And when there are people who try to impose their rules on everyone, It’s not going to go over well. We’re free spirits!
Raddington: Absolutely! I went to art school with more of a conceptual perspective on things, following the likes of Marcel Duchamp. Art is what you make of it, art is what you say it is. You can take a wheel and a stool and put it together and call it art as Duchamp did and forever changed art history. If you stand by that and stake your career behind it, then that opens up anything as being art.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Antennae is a self taught artist from New Orleans who has been in New York for 8 years. He tries to dip between the lines of macabre and clever art.
Marzipan Physics is a NYC-based artist and designer whose current work revolves around an alien scientist character and her psychedelic universe, and touches on themes including theoretical physics, outer space, art deco, science fiction, and luxury fashion.
Originally from Los Angeles, Raddington Falls aka RAD is an artist and educator based in West Harlem, New York. He’s been teaching art to children since he graduated with a major in Fine Arts and a minor in Art Education from The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. Teaching has been a source of inspiration, for both RAD and his students.
