1xRun Thru Interview
Freedom for Humanity by Mear One
1xRun: Tell us a little bit about this piece…
Mear One: This piece “Freedom For Humanity” is a symbol of the attitude we should be taking when it comes to our rights as human beings. It’s a play on George Orwell’s “Newspeak” from his novel 1984 where he combines and condenses words to create a new language. The philosophy behind “Newspeak” is genius. Orwell is basically calling attention to the intentional power structure built into language by the ruling class to coerce, manipulate, and eventually limit any and all of society’s own powers of interpretation.
Language is so important for understanding what it means to truly be free, yet it is constantly being eroded, redefined, and replaced to suit the corporations and superficial consumer pop-culture trends for profit. People need to transition out of our current language based on greed towards a more meaningful and insightful existence, using language based on our humanity, sharing, and cooperation.
What I’m saying with this print is “Resist!” I want to inspire critical thought on the implementation of “Newspeak” in our current Orwellian, media-blitzed reality. Think about it, the barrage of words, of nightly mainstream news vernacular constantly bombarding us. It’s the media’s war on consciousness that numbs our perception, eliciting an emotional reaction that in fact constitutes our own apathy, complacency, fear, paranoia, a general unwillingness to become vocal and physically involved in the political and social world we live in.
As a visual artist I’m interested in understanding what that process looks like and how we are affected by it, how our attention is kept from knowing the dirty truths that exist. There are grammatical errors in our visual language and this print, direct from the Department of Correctional Symbolism, offers positive reinforcement and artistic nutrition for the mind to grow and become aware.
1xRun: Tell us how the idea and execution came about?
Mear One: I first started playing around with this image while working on the “False Profits” print. That piece was almost too real that it needed some sense of redemption and resistance, so I created the Radical Man. He references a segment of the original mural I painted in London back in 2012, a supporting character who didn’t make it to the print. I see the last piece we dropped together as the first of a series that would unfold with each new print like an evolving visual narrative.
1xRun: Was this piece part of a recent theme, series or show that you had?
Mear One: This image became part of my latest street campaign influenced by the state of current affairs at home and globally. What I observe is that the global revolution is growing. There is a shift in many people’s minds in how we see the world and how life can be experienced. More people are awoken, more aware, and are demanding what they want. I’ve always been a rebel and art that symbolizes this resistance inspires me to be who I am. I don’t let the oppression get me down. Instead, I go mobbing, paint a canvas, or hit a wall.
1xRun: What materials did you use to create this piece?
Mear One: I created the original with pencil, pen, and ink.
1xRun: How long did this piece take?
Mear One: I drew and inked it up in roughly 86,400 seconds.
1xRun: What is unique about this piece compared to your other work?
Mear One: I brought more of a graphic effect to this piece this time around. It’s been many years since I’ve taken this route, not since my early Conart designs back in 1989-1996. I actually came into this whole game as a graphic illustrator working with Conart in the hip-hop fashion/apparel scene. I was fresh out of high school and itching to get busy and Conart was a group of graffiti heads challenging each other to new limits. A lot of my early graffiti work had this graphic influence too that I gradually shed as I grew as a painter. Throughout the late 1990’s I lost touch with my graphic work and never thought I’d be rekindling this technique (my more recent print work has been done with a painterly technique) so it’s like thirst for a flavor missed for decades. Look out for the next print in this series…
1xRun: You have been staying very busy since your debut release with us earlier this year, bring us up to speed on what you’ve been up to?
Mear One: I’m in studio building my current body of work. Not been on too many murals lately as painting in the studio demands all of me, my mind, focus, and time.
1xRun: Describe this piece in one gut reaction word.
Mear One: Banging!
1xRun: Where can we find you?
Mear One: Facebook – Twitter @MearOne Instagram @Mear_One
-1xRUN