Nice stencil you got me into !

Tu te trimballes à Londres, tu devines plus que tu ne vois un truc collé sur un mur derrière une grosse poubelle, tu pousses la grosse poubelle qui est heureusement sur roulettes et tu découvres un pochoir tout neuf avec Laurel et Hardy dessus. Stan Laurel (le mince, UK, 1890-1965) et Oliver Hardy (le gros, US, 1892-1957) ayant été deux comiques burlesques du temps du cinéma muet et morts depuis, tu te doutes qu’ils ne se sont pas pochés eux-mêmes … Mais tu souris sur toute la largeur de ta face parce qu’ils étaient vraiment rigolos dans leurs films et que tu t’en souviens. Le pochoir étant barré de plusieurs MR FAHRENHEIT en lettres rouges, tu te demandes qui peut bien être ce type et tu poses quelques questions aux gars du shop de bombes Chrome and Black Ltd. tout proche et tu googles après pour en savoir plus … Et tu contactes l'artiste et tu poses tes questions parce que ceci est un blog avec des interviews dedans :

MR. FAHRENHEIT, would you please tell us about your background and trajectory ?

MR. FAHRENHEIT was born in the last century, growing up in a city with thrilling live and street art on the doorsteps. He was travelling since he could walk, visiting whole of Europe and later lots of other countries. Early on he faced lots of different cultures and met people in remote corners of the world. Starting painting was an expression of the funky MR. FAHRENHEIT soul. Walking trough the streets of European cities, he discovered stencil graffiti and got influenced, excited and floating around in ecstasy. Finishing his first stencil was the moment he was burning through the sky to hundred degrees and that is why he called himself MR. FAHRENHEIT and started cutting stencils at the speed of light.

MR. FAHRENHEIT, what are your current geographical and artistic areas ?

In terms of location, no matter where of course, but mostly in London. There, MR. FAHRENHEIT is pasting his artwork onto many walls. He has also some bearing to Berlin, Bristol and Hamburg and every time he visits these cities he leaves some artwork somewhere in the streets. But anyway, every town and place is good for some street art. His last escape to Dubai earlier this year left the city less naked and more colorful. Using stencils allows MR. FAHRENHEIT to create more unusual pictures and repeat a special painting in a different but yet similar way. Doing lots of his pieces on Financial Times newspaper allows him to play with more colors and different layers. He likes to surprise people walking in their town, seeing something they didn’t expect and conjure a smile into their faces. For example, his new campaign "Q R SO PORNO BABY !" shows QR codes in a different way than people know them. Trying to read the code with their mobile phones, they get the message "U R SO PORNO BABY !" … Because everybody is porno, well in different ways, but unique and individual. There will be more and more codes around in towns all across Europe and the world, later this year in Asia and of course with different quotes.

MR. FAHRENHEIT, would you please share with us your perspective about street art ?

Where is street art going to ? Honestly, he doesn’t know. But what MR. FAHRENHEIT sees is something that comes up with new expressions since forty years, creates different styles and gives artists the opportunity to contact their audience every day in a direct way. Street art is spreading its messages across town ! And he thinks neither the police nor laws can stop the movement of street art. It gives something to the people in town, people like it, some not, but they are confronted with it and they have to think about the messages, conscious or unconscious.

Thank you very much, MR. FAHRENHEIT !

Tu vois, lecteur, lecteuse, il a de chouettes choses à dire (à la troisième personne), MR. FARHENHEIT ! Et pour paraphraser ce que Laurel et Hardy avaient l’habitude de dire dans leurs films : “well, here is another nice mess you have gotten me into !”. Bye bye everybody.

Illustration : Pochoir de Laurel et Hardy par MR. FAHRENHEIT (appliqué sur une double page du Financial Times du 31 décembre 2011) photographié par Serge-Louis dans Redchurch Street le 10 mai 2011. Interview réalisé via e-mail et légèrement édité avant postage par Serge-Louis. Copyright de l’illustration et de l’interview par Serge-Louis pour Brigadier Plipp. Plus d’information sur MR. FAHRENHEIT à mrdotfahrenheit.worldpress.com ainsi que sur flickr, youtube et facebook !