Interview with DAIM (by Beyond Extreme)

Note: This interview was done at the end of 1999, so that is why some of the questions refer to the new millenium

DAIM, Mirko Reisser. 28 years old. I was born in lueneburg. a smal town near hamburg. since I was 3 years old I lived in hamburg. 1996 I started to studie fine art in the school of art lucern in switzerland. 1998 I went back to hamburg.

Crews: TCD (Trash-Can Design), FX, FBI, SUK, GBF, ES

Keams (Q): When, where, and why did you get into the art form know as graffiti? In addition, who got you started and who did you look up to for a "role model"?

Daim (A): I started in 1989 together with Duke, Renate and Kewen. We founded the TCD (trash can design) crew. I have been interested in art for a long time. I have been drawing since my early childhood days. That is why I had a certain knowledge prior to this. As far as spraying is concerned we (Renate, Duke, Kewen and myself) had to start out from scratch. We were not acquainted with any other sprayers, had to find out everything by ourselves. lf you are open to new ideas, experiment a lot, think about hints and suggestions from others and use them in your work, you can develop rapidly. As I started out spraying illegally, I soon got a good feeling for the can. Planning pictures in advance, spraying fast and effec- is something you learn best when spraying illegally. Pretty soon we started accepting smaller jobs. This meant we often had to try out something new. Especially with this it is very important to design whole walls, not only some writing in the middle of the wall but also characters and backgrounds. I never had real teachers. But you learn something from everybody who is working with you and doing it better or differently or with more experience. Learning from one teacher only would mean one-sided learning.

Keams (Q): What do like the most about the graff/art culture? And why?

Daim (A): One of the best things in graffiti is traveling so much. Writers are avid travelers and it's good to know that you can travel around the globe and meet writers in lots of other countries, who you can work with and who will help you to get to know the country and the people. Graffiti is a worldwide language of youth. There is nothing absolutely negative in graffiti. Being chased by the police, narrowmindedness of people not liking graffiti and envy among those in the scene are just things that go along with it and keep motivating me to go on. In the past few years many things have changed for the better, so i'm sure it's only going to improve.

Keams (Q): As one who travels and paints all around the world, what do you have to say about the graffiti scene in Miami? Who do you like painting with when you come down? How about the graff scene in Germany?

Daim (A): To paint in miami was a great feeling. The diffrents between miami beach and the rest. To see a city personal or to see it just in TV is a big diffrent. We had a great time, the writers from miami are realy friendly. In germany the writers are working together realy strong. we just can go bigger and bigger and will have sucess in the future if we work together. couse the public try to fight against graffiti we don`t get the chance to use there structures. so we must build our own structures for our work (magazines, internet, paint and caps sell, books, exhibitions....). but you can build complex structures just if you work together.

Keams (Q): Even though making money is not the most important part of graffiti, i'm sure that you get paid for most of your art (which is great). The question is whether you make, or have the potential to make, a carreer out of graffiti from the money that comes out of murals, t-shirt deals from TRIBAL, ART CRIMES, etc.? Do you do any other types of art in which you get paid, such as air-brushing cars, your web-page,etc?

Daim (A): at most of the works I do I don`t get money for it. most af all my big production are free art works on school areas or other legal spots. I live from graffiti jobs since 1993. but the money comes from the more typical graffiti jobs, advertising...now it starts that I (we) can earn more money from free art work. selling canvases at exhibitions is a good way for the future to make money just with your personal free art work. most of the writers here in germany can find a way to earn money with his skills. doin`a magazin, a book, designing web-pages, logos, walls advertising..... these are all jobs around the graffiti work. my future is the work on canvas and big spraypaint productions.

Keams (Q): Personally i consider evryone's graffiti as an art form rather than an act of vandalism. What is your perspective on this topic?

Daim (A): Graffiti is about presenting yourself, about writing your name as often and noticeable as possible. Illegal graffiti is more about the action itself than about the outcome. Because, subconsciously, it surely also is about showing society that we (the youth) are not happy with the way the city looks and we want to make our own decisions, allowed or not. Working illegally, especially on trains, you combine things that legal writing can't give you: adventure, excitement, trust in your friends, risk and an enormous activity. Combined with the possibilty to do whatever you want, while at the same time not breaking your own rules. The feeling to shock and provoke, to get respect from your fellow writers, to have expressed yourself, to have worked creatively is something you can rarely get from today's society. I believe that someone who writes only legally cannot grasp the whole spirit of graffiti.

So I don`t see illegal graffiti as vandalism. but it is good to have a perspectiv in your live so that you have the chance to walk on new ways. for some writers a new way is from the street to the galerie. but the society must give them a chance.

Keams (Q): Please tell me what graffiti means to you, along with one word that describes you and your art.

Daim (A): Graffiti means style to me. To me style means expressing oneself. Your very own, self-developed style. Style comes right from -the heart, certainly influenced by other artists or your surroundings. You will only find real style when you develop something of your own. Something like that takesyears.

Keams (Q): Were you the one that started the EXTREME 3D style of graffiti or was their another "inventor"?

Daim (A): Photorealism is a different and a far older Story. Graffiti was allways minfluenced by it, because it linked different artforms and styles. Photorealism, Impressionism, Pop Art, advertisment, design are all important influences on Graffiti. One day Photoreallism and ermering out of it, Three-Dimensionalism were just included. These whole developement happend before in New York. Only a few news about it came over to us or they just had ideas and didn't push them forward. I'm always amazed, what was done by the New York Writers already. It shows how open minded they were for all kind of things. One could nearly say: everything has been made in NY before. The evolution: tag, subway, mural, canvas, sculpture happend in NY. However, not everything what we do outsite NY is a bite. We walk along our own ways. 3Dstyle, sculptures were taken up in our own work. DELTA, Erni and back in the days Pistol was one of the first who worked on this ideas and contributed to the "liberation of the letters". But like Delta said: "What I actually think is that some people at the same time had simmilar ideas." Even more so if he says 3D style is a poduct of the 90s. Long time before I started writing, I examined Photorealism. The realistic works of DALI as well as the light and shadow play of VAN GOGH always had my attention. This is what I later tried to include in my pieces. My aim was to make the letters more realistic, more plastic. I saw DELTA going the same way and he impressed me with his work. Writers who impress you will always influence yourself a bit, sometimes it just encourages you in your directions. I hope and I'm sure, that I also influenced writers who influenced me.

Ideas should be thrown into a pool and everybody should be able to use them and develope them further, to give them their own style and put them back into the pool. This is the only way to develope art movements and styles, only like this the writing movement rised up. Like SCUM writes in a "Backjumps Magazine" issue: "The individual and his pictures are only alive through the graffiti movement as a whole. Without the totality and its great variety the individuality of the single writer in the graffiti movement would be nothing. Each of those individuals would be bound to another culture."

Keams (Q): Almost all graffers look up to you as the "best" of the 3D graffiti/art style. How do you feel about all this respect, publicity, and fame? Do you have any tips for the writers just getting into the graff game?

Daim (A): just go your way. try to find out what is the right way for yourself. to be on the "black" or the "white" side in life is easy. but to find the "good grey tones" in the middle is hard.

Keams (Q): With all your skills i'm sure that graff has gotten you women. What do think about this? Do you believe that graff attracts girls?

Daim (A): I don`t know. most of the girls on jams are a little bit to young. hope that are one day some more girls who are painting. I feel sad to see the girls just "as girlfriends of writers". I want to see them as artists too.

Keams (Q): What new inventions do you see in the future that will help/hurt graffiti? What are your plans for the future?

Daim (A): bigger productions, canvases, sculptures, exhibtions, more travellings....

Keams (Q): Do you and your boys have a huge production planned for the new millenium? If so where and who?

Daim (A): there are some big plans for the future. but I can`t say enything about it.

Keams (Q): Do you have any last words of wisdom for all the writers out there? Any shout-outs? Any requests?

Daim (A): first: DAIM is pronounced exactly like the coin: a "dime". That`s the german way to say it. It means nothing. I just like the letters. and second: please weare masks if you work with spraypaint. doesn`t matter if inside or outside.