Just for Xmas we have decided to upload some of the content we managed to keep offline these past few months. In particular this post is about something we have been doing out here called “NETCHING”. Allow me to explain the term. You know how sometimes an in-joke can just get taken too far and spawn a whole set of slang? That’s how NETCH came about. Pretty much it is an abbreviation of ‘Next Echelon’. There was a lot of joking around at some of our walls about taking things to the highest level possible in regards to scale, detail and concept. It was half-joking around but ended up motivating a small movement in NZ that has really evolved our approach to painting entirely. It all began with this wall:

Deus, Askew and Berst. August 2009.

This wall was the unofficial round 1. The idea was to bring a combination of each others styles into each piece by putting up our own first outlines but working in sections across both pieces. The precursor to this approach is definitely the signature ‘Style Smashing’ of MSK and AWR pieces by Tyke, Ewok, Revok and Rime to name a few. It is also a variation of the ethos behind ‘The Exchange‘ Project. Berst and I worked in total unison on each piece bringing our own illustrative elements across both names and attempting to think as different as possible about every element painted. For example, you can see the 3D’s have been splayed out in opposing directions on each bar. This is something seen on a few of Berst’s pieces leading up to this one. You can also observe the ‘Aura’s’ painted with Astro and treated as if in 3D space. This is something I had been playing with and as Berst and I brought our own respective takes on it, it became a stylistic element in every one of our pieces from then on. Shortly after that, we did this wall:

Askew Stray and Berst. September 2009.

This spot on the Morningside lines is a cool 3-namer so we definitely needed to bring another person into the mix. I’d been hanging with Stray RTR a lot so this time around we did a NETCH with 3 artists. I think this is one of the most successful ones because 3 is a great number. The clarity of letter is getting more abstracted but between 3 it’s easier to reign things in and retain some classic structure. We had problems with the police doing this one because it is directly on an active railway line. The police moved me along and when I said I would get a rail permit, they didn’t believe me. Well, I didn’t have a clue how to get one but after a couple of hours ringing around I managed to source a contact and get one organised! It’s amazing what you get if you just ask and also lucky I have a registered company with public liability insurance or this would have never happened! Not even an hour after we had finished this wall, we coaxed Vents and Shake into starting the massive wall right across the tracks for round 3!

Stray, Vents, Askew, Shake, Misery and Berst. September 2009.
*edit- Extra large version here for close look at the pieces!

This wall was the epic venture into NETCH. I lost count of how many hours was spent in total but this production spanned 3 weekends and the two weeks between with artists coming and going as their schedules permitted. I couldn’t tell you how many cans were used either but everyone just chipped in everything they had to make it work. There were countless missions on foot, back and forth with ladders and equipment. There was one weekend with a Cherry picker, in the rain, right through the night. Then there was the getting the Cherry picker out of the mud to return it the next day! As far as style goes, this wall went further into abstract territory and the letters are definitely more obscured. At the base of it all though, this is unapologetic graffiti style painted in large mural form. There are no mountains or scenery, no corny concepts or people pleasing elements. This is just what we honestly felt like painting. The public response to this wall was 10 times more positive as a result. Every isolated shape within this wall has been painted to the most extreme extent, something that can never quite be conveyed in a photo online (Which is a shame!). This wall was painted without Ego, with total co-operation and open-mindedness between the artists and marked a pivotal shift in the way NZ graffiti is painted.

It has to be noted that during the time we were creating these works, Sofles and Vans were motivating us by means of a ‘friendly battle’ which also spurred on their own variation of NETCHING. Needless to say, those guys are incredible!

For more work from all the artists involved:
www.misery.com
www.askew1.com
www.flickr.com/photos/askewtmdsuk
www.flickr.com/photos/berstgbak
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tracksidekiller
http://www.flickr.com/photos/strayim
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ready2roll

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Comments ( 18 )

Fresh!

Great concept and building on the foundations set on collaborating with others. It is really hard to appreciate these walls from these small pics. Any chance of uploading larger pics?

The design elements are really effective but tend to stand out more than any individual letter. Again, I would need to see a bigger pic to know for sure.

Graffiti is definitely moving to a whole new place-

Rime added these pithy words on Dec 23 09 at 12:24 am

Thanks heaps Rime. Projects like the Exchange really set the precedent in regards to just getting people to step out of their own ego-bubble once in a while and try something outside their usual comfort zone.

I’ve edited the post to include a link to a bigger version for closer inspection!

askew added these pithy words on Dec 23 09 at 12:55 am

Incredible!

Four G's Magazine added these pithy words on Dec 29 09 at 4:38 pm

the large pic link has stopped working

cool dog by the way. happy netching in the new year guys!

peace from england

AC added these pithy words on Dec 30 09 at 1:54 am

Oh yeah that’s my fault! Technical issues with my website where it was hosted. Should be sorted soon!

askew added these pithy words on Dec 30 09 at 3:56 am

lots of colors but cant read that shit
not dissin just its easy to paint mess like that
what happened to outlines?

371 added these pithy words on Dec 30 09 at 8:22 am

To be honest, it’s not that easy to paint these walls. There are outlines on everything too, it’s just that the shapes comprising each letter are isolated and painted as complete individual elements.

It’s been interesting to put these out there, to see how polarising these works have been. I think it would be great for people to see them in the flesh before casting too harsh a critique though, to stand there and appreciate the work is another thing. Of course, that’s not likely that many people outside of Auckland will see these in person.

askew added these pithy words on Jan 01 10 at 12:18 am

wow, truly inspiring… colours pop and the pieces seem alive! great job

thewizerd added these pithy words on Jan 05 10 at 6:51 pm

Huge props on these new walls. As much as new styles can be polarising – particularly when they distort traditional ideas as much as these do – it’s so important that people do push them, otherwise the whole scene becomes stale and stagnant. For me part, I’m definitely a fan, at least as much as you can be without seeing the walls in person. But again, huge respect for what you and the rest of TMD are doing, and I can only imagine how exciting it is to be at the centre of something so new and fresh.

deloco added these pithy words on Jan 06 10 at 2:53 am

^Thanks a lot for the kind words! It has been very interesting to gauge the reaction. I guess if it becomes a talking point in the very least that it has served some sort of purpose. Polarising is right though! haha

askew added these pithy words on Jan 06 10 at 1:13 pm

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