Roll up! Roll up! For 9 days only Israeli art collective Broken Fingaz Crew have opened their ‘Crazy Eye Hotel’.
Click images to enlarge.
KAPOW! Unga, Kip, Deso and Tant make-up street art quartet Broken Fingaz Crew. Hailing from Israel with limitless imagination, armed with spray cans and no inhibitions they’ve landed their debut UK show in Brick Lane’s Old Truman Brewery.
The moment you check into the ‘Crazy Eye Hotel’, you’re there to stay. Visitors are greeted by Olga, the mean green lizard queen positioned pride of place on her intricately patterned throne. We’re on her territory now, entering her world, entitled (in a flash of hot pink of course) ‘Perverts Paradise’. In their East London residence, street art stars BFC have created a jam-packed, live action comic book. But there are no superheroes in this story, the villains are taking over and the collective’s quaint hometown of Haifa is burning down. It’s not a fairy-tale, there’s no happy-ending and Spidey won’t be saving nobody. For nine nights only you can check into BFC’s spray can dystopia, i-D online popped-by to chat to the men behind the masterpiece.
Is there any kind of message you’re trying to tell with your work?
I wouldn’t say there is a message. It’s mainly just what comes about and what looks good. It’s all about the visuals.
Can you tell us about the creative process…
Some work we just do in our sketchbooks and then start right away. Other times we plan. When we do a collaboration we have to plan a lot more because there are more people involved. With this exhibition, we visited the gallery before so we prepared our pictures. You have to be able to work with the space you have.
Has working in Israel influenced your work?
It has in a way because it doesn’t matter where you are, your surroundings will affect your work. It’s not really connected to Europe or to America. It hasn’t got any roots when it comes to street art.
And how do you think your work fits in with the location your exhibiting in here?
It’s harder to get people excited. We really have to push it to the next level. It’s also cool because people are looking for street art around this area.
Have you noticed many differences between exhibiting in London and Israel?
It’s quite different actually. In Israel when we exhibit in our hometown it’s small. It’s more for our friends, everyone has a good time and nobody buys anything. Here people really see it as something valuable and maybe spend money on it. There’s bad and good to both.
Are you able to choose a favourite piece?
I think a ‘Tragic Mistake’ works really well. Also, the last thing we did is the ‘Olga, the Goddess’ installation, which is also connected to the buildings behind it. I think they look really good together.
How do you go about finding public locations for your work?
It changes from time to time. Sometimes we work in our studios or we just find a random wall. Sometimes we just find a place in the middle of the day to paint and nobody really cares. Sometimes a crowd comes to watch, in the daylight nobody asks any questions. They just watch.
What’s it like working as a group instead of working as a solo artist?
We do both. People have their individual work as well as group projects. We do work a lot together and it’s good, especially when you’re travelling and seeing new cities. It’s more fun. Travelling with your friends, what can be better?
The Crazy Eye Hotel is open at The Old Truman Brewery until 29th April. The exhibition is supported by the British Israeli Arts Training Scheme (BI ARTS).
Text: Rebecca Arts
Photography: Katie Smith © Broken Fingaz Crew
