Li Qiuqiu 李球球0528 – Irresistible for the Rebellious Teenager I Was

Graffiti Pioneer

Interview via email

KL: You are a pioneer in the Chinese graffiti scene, how did you get into it in the first place?

李球球0528: I was really into drawing and skateboarding… I saw graffiti for the first time from skateboarding videos and magazines. I was taught as a child that vandalism is forbidden, but when I saw those vibrant and colorful walls on the streets outside of China I could feel the freedom – it was almost irresistible for the rebellious teenager that I was at the time. I felt a force grabbing towards graffiti, and after a few attempts I was hooked. Moreover I think graffiti is within our nature, the nature that society and institutions try to stifle and murder at every opportunity.

KL: 你是北京最先开始做涂鸦的人当中的一个，你是怎么开始接触并喜欢上涂鸦的呢？

李球球0528: 我是因為喜歡畫畫和玩滑板。。從滑板video和雜誌裡第一次看到的塗鴉。。從小我們的教育是禁止亂塗亂畫。。但看到國外的牆上都是花花綠綠的。。感覺是那麼自由。。。對於我這個正處於叛逆期的孩子來說吸引力是無法阻擋的。。。在嘗試過幾次後就無法自拔了。。。還有我認為塗鴉是人類的天性。。是社會和制度扼殺了每一個人的天性。。。

KL: Did you have any particular inspiration (did you spend your youth watching Beat Street over and over)?

李球球0528: A varied range of things has influenced my style. I have a lot of influences. When it comes to graffiti and street art, I like Banksy, Bonzai, Obey, Kobra, Chinaman, etc. I like Otomo Katsuhiro and Kim Jung Gi’s comics. I listen to 2pac, Nas, Wu-Tang, Bob Marley, Mozart and Paquito [D’Rivera]. I read Wang Shuo, Jin Yong, Gu long…. Etc. The people in my life, my friends, my family are have an impact on my style.

KL: 有什么东西或人特别影响你的涂鸦风格或内容？比如Beat Street电影或者Hip Hop音乐等等？

李球球0528: 要說有什麼東西影響了我的風格。。那就有太多了。。我喜歡banksy。bonzai。obey。kobra。chinaman等等的塗鴉作品。。我喜歡大友克洋。kim jung。的漫畫。。喜歡2pc。nas。wu－tang 。bob Marley。莫札特。帕奎托的音樂。。王朔。金庸。古龍的小說。。等等等。。。生活裡的人。朋友。家人都在影響著我的風格。。。。

KL: How long did it take to find like-minded people and create a scene?

李球球0528: It took about five to six years for me to find like-minded people and friends who were also into it, probably due to the nature of communication back then… It has to be easier now.

KL:在一个几乎没有涂鸦氛围的地方找到志同道合的人一起玩儿，并且建立一种社区的感觉用了多长时间？

李球球0528: 從自己開始到找到志同道合的朋友我大概用了5-6年的時間吧。。可能那個時候信息沒有現在快。。我相信現在會更容易些。。。

KL: What difficulties did you encounter throwing stuff up back in the day? Was it more or less difficult when you were starting out? The police aren’t hugely strict about it now, was it better or worse when you started out?

李球球0528: The biggest problem I had was the quality of the paint. It’s much better now, there are lots of shops selling good paint.

KL: 你在刚开始涂鸦的时候经历过什么样的困难？你觉得这些困难现在还会有吗？经历了怎么样的改变？现在这种东西管的也不是很严，以前呢？跟现在比起来有什么样的区别？

李球球0528: 以前遇到的困難就是能找到的噴漆質量太差。。現在好多了有了專門為塗鴉的

KL: Why did you stop painting? Do you think every graffiti artist is destined for a relatively early retirement? Is it “a young man’s game?”

李球球0528: I haven’t completely retired from it, it’s just that I don’t have enough time as I used to – I’ve got a family and a kid now. My life is completely different. I think everyone ends up going through this process of which the things you like and pay attention to gradually change through time. You have all the time in the world when you’re young to condemn the world and dismiss everything around you as shit, just because you can. It’s different now; my attitude and insight toward life and nature and people and things have totally changed. I see it as a new beginning.

KL:你为什么慢慢儿退出了做涂鸦？你认为每一个涂鸦艺术家都会被迫，或者注定要早些退出做涂鸦吗？这是一个“年轻人的游戏”吗？

李球球0528: 其實並沒有退出。。只是自己的時間這些年比較少了。。畢竟現在有家有孩子。。生活和以前完全不同了。。我想每一個人都會經歷這樣的過程。。你所關心的事物喜好的東西都會隨著年歲的增長發生變化。。。年輕的時候時間比較多。。沒有什麼壓力覺得全世界都是傻逼。。誰也不服。。現在不一樣了。。對生命。。自然。。人和事務都有了新的感悟。。。我覺得現在應該是一個新的開始。。。。

KL: Is any of your work still up? They heritage list some artworks in Melbourne and other places, do you think China will get to a stage of truly valuing what you guys do?

李球球0528: My stuff is barely visible on the streets of Beijing now, most of them are covered up. China is different from most countries in many ways. We have way too many people, generally uneducated. Most consider themselves lucky to even have a job. We treat authorities like God, how could anyone expect these people to allow anything that hasn’t been thoroughly inspected and censored to stay up for long? I’m not optimistic about it… there’s no freedom, no future.

KL: 你的作品还能在北京看到吗？在世界其他地方，类似墨尔本，有些涂鸦作品曾在艺术遗产的名下被保护。你认为中国会达到能够完全接受这个东西并意识到它的价值吗？

李球球0528: 我的東西在北京街面兒上比較少了。。大部分都被刷了。。。中國和大部分國家不同。。首先我們人太多了。。有文化的又特別少。。能有個工作就不容易了。。對於領導交給的任務特別認真。。。他們那能接受沒經過批准和審查的東西存在。。我不看好中國的接受度。。。沒有自由。。沒有未來。。。

KL: How developed do you think the scene is now? Are there particular artists who impress you?

李球球0528: This shit is going places in Beijing. There’re paint shops, different crews and some foreigners painting around the city. There are also commercial events focused on graffiti. There aren’t any artists that I like though.

KL: 你觉得现在涂鸦这回事儿在北京发展的怎么样？有没有几个吸引你眼球的涂鸦艺术家？

李球球0528: 這玩應兒在北京發展的看起來還行。。有噴漆店。。有幾個團隊和幾個外國人在到處噴著。。也有一些商業活動在關注塗鴉。。但沒有我喜歡塗鴉藝術家。。

KL: Events like the Graffiti Neighbourhood Meet up is a huge celebration of graffiti culture, was there anything even remotely like it when you were painting?

李球球0528: None of this stuff existed back then, there were small-scale events but nothing like this. It’s my first time going to something like this, I’m pretty excited.

KL: 类似“邻里相聚”这样一些庆祝和发展涂鸦文化的活动在你刚开始玩涂鸦的时候可以看得到吗？以前涂鸦有在这种规模上被展示过吗？

李球球0528: 以前可沒有這樣的活動。。有也是比較小規模的活動。。我也是第一次參加這樣的活動。。很期待。。。