Looking through your back catalogue of work it ranges from traditional paint and pen to line art, canvas, digital and to what your more commonly known for - graffiti. What do you feel more comfortable at and what do you wish to explore in the future?

Fairly comfortable adapting to most mediums, I revel at the challenge, only recently I turned my hand to a spot of watercolour and felt quite at ease almost instantly. The more varied i am the easier other mediums appear, similar techniques hold throughout and its really whats in your head that counts, putting it down is just draftsmanship, a skill that takes years of practice requiring perseverance but if you put the hours in you will get there. Ideas and developing the mind is another side that is more elusive and less straight forward / practical, insight into the individual.

Speaking of style, lets talk about influences and originality. Biting (or copying) is a serious taboo in graffiti, but we’ve all done it?

Biting or influence, the struggle for originality when nothing can be truly original. Influence for me arrives in various strange forms, reading contrasting styles of fiction alternately to maintain some kind of mental stability, I switch from philosophical science fiction to historical novels. Future and past , what will be with the afterthought and knowledge of hindsight. From Philip K Dick to Patrick O`Brian. New mediums themselves, experimenting and adapting to them also influences my work. I enjoy experimenting, and at one point was on my way to becoming a surgeon (I got the A-levels but then when to art college instead of medical school), and adapting to different mediums which can change the way i work to suit the outcome desired in the new medium. I have also dabbled in more than static visual art; music, animation, film, dance . . . at one point looking back I would have been what is termed a Bboy. This is not someone who just breakdances as many falsely understand it but someone who embraces all four elements of Hip Hop. I shouldn`t need to state them but maybe lately it is a dying or misunderstood lifestyle. Graffiti, Breakdancing, DJing and Rapping. Equivalent to Painting / Drawing, Dance, Poetry and Music composition .

What makes you happy?

Like the question asked by warriors sitting around the campfire in days gone by- the wind in my hair and a sword in the hand sort of stuff. Or as Terry Pratchett put it a comfy pillow and a soft bed .

You have different names and Aka’s such as Mista breakfast and Lord Leigh- is this because each name is a reflection or representation of a certain style or is it for tax purposes?

Mono, who am I? I am many, we are one. Pseudonyms and their necessity for legal reasons, misspent youth in a judgemental society, freedom to exercise expression. Expressing different aspects in different styles, constantly changing, thus with name also. Mono all encompassing, want to know the man, enter into a world of intrigue and mystery, of curly moustaches and goat wrestling . Though that was only once in Canada but stranger things have given me cause to rise to the occasion upon my travels. Darkly complex, a man of deep rooted conviction and stead fast determination, distinguished by the combination styles of a fine pair of tweed breeches and a shiny Adidas tracksuit top and matching shell toes.
I get bored and like switching shit up.

The influence of the Internet and being able to get your work worldwide at the click of a button has changed all forms of art. How do you feel this has been felt in street art and graffiti?

“ The invention of the camera changed the way men saw. The visible came to mean something different to them, this was immediately reflected in painting “
John Berger ( Ways of Seeing , Chap 1 p.18 )

Extend photography now to the internet, an even greater library at ones fingertips but requiring less physical searching, less exploring but more of it, basically we all have access to the same images, therefore it is my belief that the Internet may have a negative effect. Creating a more generic state of art today, not necessarily copying each other just all being influenced by the same things, unintentional similarity, thus it is important to guard yourself as an artist against unwanted influence. Be careful what you read, I was once told, similarly this can be extended to all forms of data input that may influence you in some way.

Lets talk about process- finished sketches, back of a fag packet or straight onto the canvas- what works best for you?

No preference so long as I am able to draw on something , even if my hands were removed I would still paint .

Advice for the younger generation of painters and artists?

Without aim or direction, there is a potential hangup for the artist in the making. Hang up your hang-ups. Projects are necessary to stave of this feeling. Artistic temperament, a mixture of worthlessness, polarised by arrogance, seeming inability leading to jealousy and many more odd behavioural patterns merely act as crutches unless used correctly. Dealing with these emotions, turning them around to drive you rather than succumbing and giving up. I have seen too many good artists fall by the wayside for lack of recognition in an ever more demanding world of overpopulated steeple chases. Strive on and don`t care, Ignore a certain amount of potential evil influence, traversing the swamp with contemplated footsteps lest not ye should fall in to the quagmire. Safeguard against biting, allow for experimentation and the unknown, don`t give a damn, it will hold you back. Attack and take risks, faint heart never won fair maiden. Accidents can spontaneously produce more original outcomes that feel free and unconstrained, not overly worked / designed, conceived in chaos. Much like these rambling paragraphs which will probably require lots of editing before print , sorry editor.

The influence of the Internet and being able to get your work worldwide at the click of a button has changed all forms of art. How do you feel this has been felt in street art and graffiti?

Graffiti and in a broader sense street art are about getting up, being seen / noticed, self expression through the medium of art placed publicly to gain a response. Can`t afford art galleries, whack it up on the street, though apparently it is illegal. On one level this relates closely to the internet via photography and the documentation of street/ graffiti art . Made available on the internet, seen from the comfort of your homes (the viewer), a potentially much greater audience. Getting up twice but more than doubling your audience but does this undermine and therefore undervalue the art. Should we as artists hold back and refrain from posting on the internet, since the art is better viewed in person. Keep something back, don`t sell yourself short, retain some work to safe guard it against biting, especially new and unfinished projects / plans until completion in the least, even then not all gets on the internet some remains exclusive, art should be exclusive, I get it, you may not, that`s the way it should be.

On another level computers are a tool, and i am not opposed to a bit of digital art. As one of my other jobs i am a graphic designer and illustrator, which has meant it is necessary to use computers fairly regularly, the bane of my life type affair.

As a gallery the internet offers accessibility but this must be weighed against oversaturation. In terms of graffiti, it may last longer than the original, which may get buffed and be seen by more people (a primary aim) but at the cost of the medium. Scale is lost, often graffiti is very large, this is one of the individual aspects of this art form, it is always better seen face up. To a purist graffiti writer the internet maybe an undesirable place to put up pictures and document criminal activity. Thus the internet has lots of legal graffiti photography on display to public whilst the illegal side remains hidden to a degree, accessible through private forums, if on the net at all.

The Courtyard / Cover in situ painting

This issue, discussing art space and the changing nature of where and how art is viewed, led to the decision to create the cover in situation as an instillation. The medium, aerosol paint, its permanent outdoor, works on most surfaces due to lack of contact so even when its rough and covers large areas quickly for maximum impact. Abstraction lesson one, go big beyond normal scale , the more to the land of giants it goes the more abstract it is beside it becoming unavoidable and imposing. Deciding the narrative of the piece, this is graphic design, so what am i saying?. It is rare to have it spelled out for you, and i don`t want to be patronising by stating the obvious, but it is fairly simple.

Central magical hand (like lady in the lake holding Excalibur) of ethereal blue light, mythical almost deity like holding a paint brush. The paintbrush represents all art, a strong clear symbol, lets not get into phallic, traditional but not outdated. Hands attempting to take the brush, hand over claw, the struggle of the artist, for recognition for art space, to achieve their own personal aims within their art. Clambering up the ladder, whether graffiti and the domination of the streets or in the art world, getting what is deserved whilst galleries and auction houses run the market and canvas is sold by the square inch, the artist strives forward, powered by ambition and the attempts to get there. Fighting in an artistic manner, spraycans at dawn, the battle is on.
MONO

To see more of MONO’s work go to:
flickr.com/photos/lord_breakfast/