Part II of my interview about Live Fast Burn Slow collection with Gustav Magazine Switzerland has just been published. This second report dives further down the rabbit hole and digs deeper into the layers of imagery used throughout the series. Below are the statements for every LFBS piece in the collection explaining why all on the surface which glitters isn’t exactly gold. Gustav is a quarterly publication on all the latest design, fashion, action sports, tattoo and urban art world’s finest and freshest. The interview appears in Gustav Urban Influence Mag Issue #27. The digital archive version will appear online later this fall.
Arch Rival
The glorified abuser. Male chauvinistic intent. A pimp who ruins the female ego. Subtle hints: Testicles hang from the rear-view mirror. Tits and money stashed in the back of the ride. A fiendish character who will run over the will of a woman to create self satisfaction.
Battle Scar Biggles
A hillbilly-esque non-intellectualist. A caricature of a so-called American rebel. Someone who lives for the right to carry arms and is hell bent on freedoms founded for a governmental system which no longer works. A bigot and racist. A ‘conscientious objector’ whose archaic and unworldly thought processes hold back positive progress due to a lack of fear and only understanding a very small piece of the truth of American Societies foundation. Subtle hints: Large plaid gas guzzling ‘honky-ride’. Disregard for animal life and welfare (killing animals because it is a believed right). Supports the NRA giving a backbone to his right to carry and conceal weaponry. Moonshine and Confederate Flag worship. Confederate Flags are under controversy as they initially represented the 15 slaveholding states during the American Civil War.
B-Side Low Ride
A street gang drug lord. Unequivocal reference to major street gangs of the US, peculiar Latino gangs. Street gangs bring violence, drugs, death, and corruption to youth and inner city burroughs. Illegal gambling, racketeering, drug trafficking, and prostitution are just a few of the most popular methods to rise in gangland. Lynch pins to the subversive nature of “get rich quick by flying under the system”. Peddling black market weapons, drugs, and even humans are monstrous deeds demonstrated by these masters of disaster. Subtle hints (not so subtle really): A loc-ed out g-ride lowrider reminiscently popular within the ethnic gangs of West Coast US. Tattoos representing a specific gang (can’t say here). A Glock 9 being fired while drinking a modified malt liquor called “Original Gangster 800”. The brains of his adversary in a hat. A tripod pit-bull like dog. Many gangs disregard humanity towards pets and oftentimes breed them into violence as well as pit them in dog fights which inevitably brings death to the K-9.
Never Again Tomorrow Express
This character refers to media and governmental control of censorship. T.V. has always been the “Young Folks Companion” since its inception. Now television competes with online media and so-called “entertainment”. This machine has been unstoppable in the programming of American youth. It is no free enterprise. Everything on the air waves has been strictly filtered to have a specific affect on society. Thus, it is the tank-like locomotive that will perpetually run over the adolescent free mind. Subtle hints: Television head with label “Government Censorship Protecting You From Reality”. Tattoos that say “Liar”, SOPA FTW (Stop Online Piracy Act For The Win), “Trust Me, and Inc. which refers to corporate control. The character wields whips to keep this dismal machine rolling.
Opium Eater
The quintessential slacker. A psychedelic-fed non-conformist who believes getting high is the answer to everything. The character is a vagabond of youth drug culture. A free spirit who only promulgates the dire stereotype which both entices and cause detriment to his true cause. The concept that the future of a drug-addled pacifist is heavily fiction due to the lack of spirit dulled senses is addressed. Subtle hints: Long rainbow flowing hair. Tie-dye tee shirt and beads. Tattoos that say “Slacker”, “Mum”, and “Pop”. Decals on the van such as a cannabis leaf, peace sign, and even Hell’s Angel. Stoner musician type gives reference to Marshall label as hood ornament. License plate just says “MAN”. Psychedelic mushrooms spawn from the back of the ride while lightning-bolt lazer beams shoot from the cat like headlights. FUQD FICTION appears boldly and a thin joint jumps from the mouth of the character.
Pusher Carcophagus | aka Mr. Whippy & Waffles
This piece refers to the enslavement of youth by sweets. It is no secret America is fat. The country of overindulgence also ranks highest in diabetes and poor diet diseases. The city of San Francisco is under attack by flying alien crafts that appear as lollipops and candy. Mr. Whippy is at the helm of his ice cream truck blasting deserts from his “cream cannon” or “butterfinger bazooka”. For decades neighborhoods have been visited by the ice cream man. The bringer of delectable treats straight to your curb. I wanted to push this a bit as it seems the ice cream man is much like a drug dealer peddling consumables which have no nutritional benefit and only cause disease once abused. Mr. Whippy has one diligent foe…Waffles. This piece began in 2012, the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. I felt that a mythical adversary in a bunny costume would calm the violent nature of the piece. Fact is, Waffles is here to save the city under siege. Rarely does violence have a place to be justified. This is another reason why the characters are cartoon-like and the color palettes are neon intense. It is what I call the “pop-candy” effect that can trick the eye into believing an image conveying a harmful concept can be tolerated and digested by the viewer without objectively thinking. Candy and sweets advertising companies have been doing it for generations.
Snake Eye King
The caricature of the gambling addict. Impulsive and pathological gambling is rife in the States. The American Psychiatric Association considers pathological gambling as an impulse control disorder rather than an addiction, however it is an Addictive Disorder. The urge to continuously gamble despite negative consequences both associated with social and and family costs brings about a slew of unsavory behavior with individuals who become manic and liars. The American epicenter for gambling is of course Sin City – Las Vegas. Once again there is a need to feed this subculture nestled in the larger realm of tourism and state economy. Casinos are no free market and have ties to mafia as well as the underscored Native American culture that has become synonymous with Southern casinos. These micro-economies have driven countless numbers of individuals to addiction and death for decades. Subtle hints: A shabby character draped with gold in a classic Rolls Royce. Bags of money. Neon light backdrop. Dice rolled snake eyes appear. A take on the classic welcome sign to Las Vegas becomes “Welcome To Fabulous Neverland” (which also has a strange connotation to Michael Jackson’s compound for kids).
Warpath
A militant suffering from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). The military factions refer to this diagnosis with several terms that range from Shellshock, Combat Exhaustion, and even Stress Response Syndrome. The fact is once our soldiers go off to war and incur psychological damage they come back home with an a weak coping mechanism that allows them passage to lead a “normal life”. What tends to happen in our prescription drug controlled society is once diagnosed they are treated by whatever pills or remedy deemed fit by the FDA to alleviate the symptoms. Bottom line is they are mainly placebos. This is a growing epidemic as the battle over resources and territories seem to never rest. The other flip side to combating PTSD is it can give a former soldier the attitude of righteousness to engage in horrendous acts and simply blame his/her condition and at times get away with acts of brutality. Since Vietnam many American soldiers come back disengaged from their former lives and a large percentage become drug addicts. This lightly controversial ‘heavy’ treatment of PTSD soldiers with multiple drugs inevitably causes a major chemical change in the brain.
I wanted to address the mixed ideologies of drug use in American culture and American soldiers. According to the US government there is a war on drugs (which was pushed into acts and laws furthered by the Reagan Administration). Also according to this same regime there is a war on terror and essentially any entity who is out to stop the so called progress of acting administrations. Thus it is a vicious cycle. The same higher ups who control our lobbies for lawmaking and enforcement are the same individuals who benefit from war and even drugs sanctioned by the FDA…however their benefit is power and making a dollar…not really looking out for the best interests of the country or soldiers at war. So we flip the script and put the mercenary on a tank with a giant hookah. He wears the gas mask directly plugged in while pumping the fumes (smoke) of medical marijuana in the air. The fight to decriminalize marijuana is a major saga in the pages of the US lobbying system currently and as an advocate for medical use it seemed fitting to push the Live Fast Burn Slow concept. In the background are ads from early the early 1900’s for tonics and medicine that can cure just about anything. This again further demonstrates the history of drug use as an accepted form of therapy…even if it is a placebo.
Wolves & Scandals
This piece illustrates the profundity of what it means to be American. A huge fuel-burning truck spewing pollution with a homogenous character of diabolical proportions. Oil burning and processing facilities with oil dikes and berms pepper the background. Flames and smoke are abundant. The epiphanic descriptor of the American regime. Subtle and not so subtle hints: A death-head wears a chieftain headdress. This represents who the Western Whites stole and raped the land from. The Eye of Providence (in reference to the Freemasons) is emblazoned on the forehead. The character wheres a neck tie that is the American flag as well as a patch of the upside cross (or Cross of St. Peter). This refers to the bond of Christian religion to American politics and the Western world. This character represents mainly “the man” as an anti-hero. Donning a Comanche tomahawk and a molotov cocktail he is both sides destruction and law of retaliation. Holding an oil drum like a beer can while driving a truck the color of money it is this vicious cycle of chaos that undermines a truly facilitated intellect on solving today’s crisis issues. Decals read “Boss”, “Bleed Karma”, 911, “Burn World”, “Struggle”, and even brass knuckles. Strapped to the hood is a baby-like character who is the youth smashing headlong into a new world steeped in a history of greed and bloodshed.
All photos and images ©Nick Beery | Beery Method Studios | All rights reserved.