News > ::‘Piecebook’ Reveals Graffiti’s Secret Drawings::
Long before graffiti became the marketable commodity it is today, the lifeblood of the culture was found in its piecebooks, the hardbound artists’ sketchbooks passed from writer to writer that served as a sort of social networking apparatus for the community. Repositories for autographs and places to work out new styles, piecebooks cross-pollinated graffiti and furthered the combination of community and competition that made the culture thrive.
Last month, Prestel/SHR Airlines published “Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers,” a collection of piecebook drawings from graf legends ranging from the famous to the infamous to the obscure. Recently Complex sat with the book’s editors, Sacha Jenkins and David Villorente (acclaimed graf writers and documentarians themselves), to discuss the project.
Interview by Jack Erwin
Complex: Where did the idea for “Piecebook” come about?
Sacha Jenkins: Being a part of the culture and being a writer when I was young, these books were always a big part of communication. We wanted to come with something that hadn’t been done and it was just a very simple and obvious idea.
Complex: How long did it take to come together?
Dave Villorente: We probably started working on the book last fall. It was really kind of a crash course. As a former graffiti artist I was friendly with a majority of the guys in the book already. We just kind of sent the word out and specifically targeted some of the guys we knew would be important to this project. And from there it was just trips to the Bronx, Richmond Hill, Queens, the last stop of the F Train to Jamaica, just going to places I hadn’t been in years to collect material.
Read More Here……Complex Blog » ‘Piecebook’ Reveals Graffiti’s Secret Drawings
Tags: graffiti, graff, graffmuseum, sast, saster, streets are saying things, piecebook, prestel, drawings, cey, kev tm7
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