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[Clapping]
David LeBatard: All right. Is this all right? Can everybody hear me okay?
First, I'd like to thank everybody for coming out today.
I thought I was just going to be talking to my five friends that I brought with me. [laughter]
And I'd especially like to thank all the people at Google for allowing us the opportunity
to share this work with you. Originally, I was going to do this as a sort
of question and answer thing, but last night I decided to make it more of an interpretive
dance. So if you guys can all just come around me
and hold hands. We'll do this like as an ice breaker, kind
of team building thing. [laughter] No. You know, I was told just to kind of speak
briefly about the work that's here today. I've been doing what I'm doing professionally
which is creating art for 14 years. I've been creating art for 25 years.
And just recently when I was -- Darren is the head of the Arts Fund, brought me into
the group, I guess about a year ago. Up to that point, I was operating pretty much
independently. And by the grace of God, I just always had
people who were really supportive of my work. And it kind of found its own direction and
I followed it and just applied what I had to that.
And that's what led me here today, so. In regards to the work you see around you,
I don't know if you've all had a chance to look around and check it out, but it's all
basically themed on flags from around the world.
And then I coupled it with another theme that I have been evolving lately, which is that
about atomic weaponry and the splitting of the atom, which is something I've been really
interested in on a scientific level in regards to the physics involved with it.
And then in the way that it kind of changed the course of humanity that now, you know,
since the 40's they basically have been able to destroy ourselves, so.
I really find that's pretty interesting in terms of the way it changes the dynamics of
how we think. And then the other thing about it is that
I've really liked to explore themes that define who we are.
And I feel like flags are one of those things on a broad level that define who we are, but
in a way they also divide who we are. They move us away from becoming closer together
a lot of times. So in the micro, they might bring us closer
together. And then, on the macro, which is globally,
it pretty much separates all of us. That's why the last flag that I decided to
do -- I wasn't really sure about the last three that I was going to do -- so I was going
back and forth with Darren actually and trying to figure out maybe Tibet would have made
sense, maybe England would have made sense. And in the end, really what made the most
sense was just doing a white flag, which is the surrender.
And I always feel that if we had a little bit more of that, we'd probably have less
of the things that are negative, so. I could go on and on about it, but I'll keep
it at that. And if there's any questions or anything,
I'd be happy to answer them.
>> If you have questions, please come up to the mic.
David LeBatard: Or just stone cold silence is good too. [laughter]
I'm going to dance either way, so. No. He might have a question there.
Q So what was the final selection process for which flags you chose?
I mean, you know, it sounds like you took into account political strife somehow.
But, it's a pretty diverse array of flags. Could you go into a couple of specifics?
David LeBatard: Sure. Sure. And by the way, all the guitars -- I don't know if there's
any guitar players -- but it's made that they can be taken down.
They're not tuned yet, but you're more than welcome, and actually encouraged to do it.
If any of the pieces get scuffed or whatever, I'll touch them up at the end, but.
I guess the selection process, I was working -- like I said, I'm going to keep referencing
-- but Darren was with me while I working through most of it.
And I really, you know, I get a chance to work by myself a lot.
I think the life of a painter is a pretty solitary life, but I really like the collaborative
experience as well. So, Darren and I went back and forth about
a lot. The first two were Cuban flag and the American
flag. I'm first generation Cuban American to Cuban
parents, but also within the whole arms race. And you know really holds a really -- it's
the first, the only time the United States has really been butt up against that question
of destroying ourselves in a real way. So those were kind of -- went without question.
And then it really started -- I guess there was nine countries that have nuclear capabilities
now. So then we sorted through those.
I don't think I really wanted to do all of those, but those definitely played a factor
into it. The Korean flag which is, I actually did South
Korean rather than North Korean, but just the whole Korean factor.
It's kind of one of the, you know, rogue factors. I think they all are.
But with the arms race and all that. And I think beyond that, the rest just kind
of happened organically. The Soviet flag was actually the second to
last one. When I thought about it, I'm like, "Oh, that
really should have been probably one of the top three, because -- for 40-some-odd years
-- that's really what kept the whole arms race going.
And then that got replaced right away. We had like ten years of not worrying about
it. And then now it's 'dirty bombs' is what we
worry about. So -- and like I said, the rest really happened
very organically. And I've noticed, at this point in my career,
when I'm working on a series and I'm very focused on it, the very last piece that I
do is usually the most poignant and it's usually the most stripped down and minimal piece.
And it generally leads to the next series. So that's why the all-white one was the last
one, so.
>> Thanks, Jesse.
David LeBatard: Guy in the ponytail. [laughter]
Q So I was wondering about the musical references in here.
I was wandering around earlier today and thinking, "Okay, I'm trying to sort of associate the
music with the nation." And I'm like, "No, maybe there isn't one there."
And that's okay. I don't mind. I like the friction between things.
But I'm curious about the musical references if you have anything to say on them.
David LeBatard: Yeah, absolutely. And I appreciate your question.
Well, one of the -- Adidas and Gibson are big branding partners that I've had over the
years, so. I think just being able to paint on guitars
and being able to do that is a really nice, positive thing.
But one of the things that I noticed is one -- when I was a kid, and having been an artist
my whole life, you kind of chronicle in a way when you look at it in hindsight.
You have a visual chronicle of what you were feeling and what you were thinking at the
time. And when I was younger, I was very much in
the punk rock movement. And you know all my early art was really about
doing punk rock artwork and flyers and all that.
And at that point in my life, looking back on it, I remember it was all about finding
differences with stuff. Everything was kind of like, "Well, this isn't
like that, and I'm not like this." and so on and so forth.
Well, slowly -- and I really got introduced to Eastern philosophy and Buddhism and all
that -- and then that kind of shifted into really trying to find the things that make
us similar. So that's why things like the flags and all
these other -- I really like to use what I consider 'universal' images and symbols now.
And also, music is one of those things -- it's a unifier.
And it rarely divides. It almost always unifies. So I thought that was a good juxtaposition
against that. Everyone just stare at me. I'm feeling this.
Q Hey thanks, Lebo, very much for coming. And you kind of touched on your last answer,
but I was wondering if you could speak more to, you know, the 25 years that have led up
to this series. I notice that you have a lot of kind of graffiti
stylings and some of your previous art that may have influenced the style that this series
captures.
David LeBatard: Okay, yeah. That's a good question.
Yeah, my work gets lumped into the graffiti thing a lot.
But I think, when I was a kid, what drew me to the graffiti were the characters.
And some less than the words. And what I started doing was researching,
Where did these characters come from? And that led me into the history of cartooning
and I was fortunate enough to be assistant curator at a cartoon museum for three years.
So, within that time, I was really able to see the way that iconography identifies different
periods of time and different people and different emotions.
And, I mean, when I was working at that museum, I was able to handle the first drawings of
Mickey Mouse. And things that might seem silly to most people, but to me, that was always
kind of like a religion growing up was drawing and all that.
So, I was able to get that from a real academic standpoint.
And then, I also backpacked around a lot and did a lot of stuff -- street stuff -- not
necessarily graffiti when I was a kid. But I would -- especially when I was in Europe
-- I would do a lot of art on the street, and I would meet people, because I didn't
have that much money. So a lot of times I'd meet people on the street
that would let me stay with them based on what I was doing.
And to me, it was all kind of connecting with people that didn't speak the same language,
but through this medium of iconography and cartooning and it was really powerful and
it was really empowering too. And that's when I was really broke and I didn't
have anything really to fall back on except that want to do it and the real passion to
do it. And then in the last -- I mean, that was probably
15 years ago -- it's just gone through different manifestations of being able to really have
a certain vision and a certain philosophy. And almost inherently, it attracts itself
to other like energy, which led me to being here and being with the Arts Fund and all
those things. So it's all been through the scope of cartooning
basically.
>> [pause]
David LeBatard: Girls don't ask questions at Google it seems. [laughter]
Q Thanks for coming. A few questions. I guess, What made you go from freelance to
join the Arts Fund? What inspired you to do that change?
And then, maybe a greater question, What does the Arts Fund -- what's the mission statement?
And how do you support artists?
David LeBatard: Okay. Well, I think one of the original things that drew me to it is
that they came to me because I was independent and because I never really considered myself
freelance. I just never considered myself wanting to
work for anybody else. But I think the part -- and I'll answer for
Darren -- I think part of the philosophy of Arts Fund is to enable artists that are working
in non-traditional ways to basically have their Renaissance period.
And that's something that we've discussed a few times.
And basically, before I was at Arts Fund, everything I would have to do would be balanced
out between making money through selling my own art and then saving some of that money
aside from the one to live to fund projects that were really, really, labor-of-love-type
projects. So I had to be really streamlined and stripped
down to the bone in order to really operate the way I wanted to.
Darren was able to recognize that right away. And he's like, "Well, basically we want to
let you keep doing that, but you don't have to worry about saving your own money and all
that. We'll be able to help you finance those things.
And we'll do it in a very strategic, smart way.
And we'll find ways to input it into all these nontraditional ways." which is what I already
was doing. So it was a real natural fit.
There was basically -- and I've mentioned this to them a few times -- they took all
the stuff I didn't like about it before, what I was doing.
Or I shouldn't say I didn't like it, but it was the more taxing part of it.
And then allowed me to just do really what I always struggled to do was -- that's just
create independently in my own space and try to deliver something that would be thought-provoking.
One girl question -- we've got to recruit a woman.
Q Okay. Can you talk about the permanent piece that's outside the cafe so that we can get
the back story and have that, since it's going to be here forever?
David LeBatard: Yeah. I'd be happy. Briefly, I mean, that piece was very inspired
as an abstract, expressionist artist from the New York School from the 50's named Robert
Motherwell. And I'm not sure if any of you are familiar
with him, but if you aren't, you should check him out.
But, he's somebody -- I've studied a lot of abstract work for years and years, so --
he's one that I always try to go back to over and over and interpret what he was doing in
my own way. I don't necessarily think I'm effective as
he was, but I definitely use that as the starting point.
So that piece was basically trying to create something that was -- of where I think he
was trying to go in his work. And if you don't know who he is, then it's
not going to make much sense. But if you do check it out, I think you'll
get it that I was trying to basically do a piece that was platforming itself off of him
and then just creating another message there that's more of an open note -- I don't really
want to get into exactly what the message is.
Because I've found that, as the artist, once you give your intention of what went into
making that piece, that the viewer kind of discounts their own.
And I think that it's kind of like birthing a baby that you have to let it live its own
life. So, you know, I'll just leave it that the
fact that I really wanted to just kind of make an homage to Robert Motherwell's work
and put a narrative through that that I felt -- again had that sort of universal ring
to it, so. Here we go. Things are heating up now.
Q Hello. Thanks for coming. So this is just an aesthetic question.
And flags are obviously usually rectangular and yours has like an ellipse -- oblong --
so I'm just wondering what the decision is around that?
David LeBatard: Sure. I think in general I prefer curve lines to hard lines.
And I don't know, maybe that's more of a feminine sensibility.
I grew up -- I taught a lot of kids to draw when I was younger and one thing I noticed
that girls have a very curved organic line, and boys tend to have a very kind of rigid,
mechanical line when they draw. And for whatever reason, I've always favored
kind of curved organic -- if I see like hard angles, my instinct is to want to smooth them
out, so.
Q Thanks.
>> [pause]
Q Hi. I was wondering if you feel influenced by technology we have as a technology company
and you mention things that unify as well as divide.
So you have the Internet which is sort of breaking down walls -- unify.
And yet, there's also people who are not sort of online, and they talk about that as being
the 'Digital Divide'. So it also divides us. And I was wondering if you feel that influence
and have thought about how that might play into your work?
David LeBatard: Yeah, that's an excellent question.
I guess I thought about it a few years ago, because at one point I had the philosophy
that I was a craftsman. And I still feel that way -- that I was a
very 'hands on' person. And it was about the tactile part of the art.
So I was a little hesitant to start working on computers and be able to apply myself to
that. But then, once I made that switch, I realized
it just added to my toolbox. I could basically -- now I can do twice as
many things. And then, one of the other things I realize
is that the format of cartooning -- you know, I've studied ancient Asian languages -- all
started off as iconography. Egyptian languages were all iconic.
Everything basically, up until about 10,000 years ago, were pictures.
And I think that the art that I practice is really about that tradition.
And that tradition plugs in perfectly to computer. Because computers are becoming -- even though
blogs are very popular and all that -- it's still visual.
It's still about pictures. And I found the more direct the picture is
and the easier it is to relay a message, the more effective it is.
So I'm very fortunate that, for years and years, I was just developing that on my own
because I just wanted a visual language basically to be able to speak through.
And then I realize, "Well, wow! Everything I'm doing visually -- whether it's these flags
or big murals or anything -- once you put them online, they have a million different
ways to apply them outside of what they're originally intended for."
So as far as I'm concerned, I still get to apply myself the way I grew up applying.
My goal has always been able to be a draftsman that's able to articulate the world around
him. That's never stopped being my goal.
Even now, it's still my goal. And even though I'm seen as a painter, in
my mind, I'm still a draftsman. And that's all I really long to be.
So now, I can work in sketchbooks or on canvas and then -- the mural that I finished yesterday
-- normally without technology, people would have to drive by and see it.
Thankfully, it's been posted and I've been getting e-mails from people all over the country.
They're like, "Wow, that's really cool." And I was like, "Man, that just got finished
tonight." And that's something that I don't think has
ever been able to really -- you know, this is a pivotal point for that kind of contact.
And from my perspective, I really appreciate it.
Q Although I feel like cartoon art, so to speak -- it's a higher level of legitimacy
than graffiti art, in the sense that there are cartoon art museums and not really graffiti
art museums. There are a lot of elements of graffiti in
your work and in other cartoonists. Could you talk about, you know, maybe the
relationship between those two styles or how graffiti has influenced your work specifically?
David LeBatard: Sure. Yeah I mean, I think both graffiti and cartooning are about making
a direct impact on the viewer. And in general, it's unfettered.
It doesn't have a gallery. There's nothing that needs to be really in
the way of that. So I think -- I would say that they probably
relate more conceptually. I mean, they obviously relate aesthetically
to one another. But conceptually, I think it's about having
the freedom to just be able to interact with the viewer and not necessarily have to have
a middleman in the way of that. And I know that my early career in Miami was
established on three or four years of just doing murals on the street.
And, you know, I was 23 at the time, and I was just really hungry for it.
So I was getting -- even when I didn't have contracts to do murals -- I was doing them
for free wherever I could. And I always had paintings in the back of
my car that I finished in my house that I'd be selling.
To me, it was just about the hustle of it. But what I realize is that, Man, people really
got it at that gut level. It didn't need to be explained.
It didn't need a lot of art history behind it.
People just really reacted to it at a guttural level, which I think is the way people should
react. It's great to have art that has a manifesto
and has a bunch of different components. But, in the end, I think you really need to
tell a story that -- on the surface -- a lot of people can relate to, and then there's
a lot of layers and complexity to it that people can plug into further if they want
to. And I think graffiti has that quality as well
when it's done in its most, you know, elevated form.
Q Thank you so much for being here.
David LeBatard: Sure. Thank you.
Q Testing. Is this thing working? Okay. I was just wondering, in terms of graffiti
and your mural painting, How much does the space inspire you?
Like, when you drive down the street, do you see a wall and you're just like, "Oh, man.
I wish I could go off to that wall and create a space."
And did you have to see this space before you created this beautiful installation?
David LeBatard: Thank you. That's an excellent question.
I think yeah. I think when you're a visual artist, I think when you're any kind of artist,
you kind of see things. You know, what I should say that what I realize
about all visual arts is that it's basically arrangements and shape.
Or you're basically arranging -- you're taking whatever shape you have, whether it's an empty
room or an empty canvas. And it's funny with buildings.
I don't see buildings -- like when I see a building, I don't necessarily look at it as
like, "Oh, that's a place for a mural." I see like six buildings and I'll be like,
"Oh, that'd be a great place to do a composition like this."
We were talking about -- or a whole city block or the side of a bridge.
Like, I still think that that medium hasn't really scratched the surface in what it's
able to do yet. Because like even that -- like doing a mural
on the side of that big wall in the bridge and then doing a mural on a boat that's going
to pass by it. And then having them be able to like interact
together. That's really the way that I look at space.
And a lot of it's just being able to -- from when I was a kid, that's where I lost myself
was in the space of one little page like that. And I basically saw the whole universe kind
of come out of that over the years. And I just worked in black and white.
I didn't even work in -- I didn't start making -- when I started working in color, I started
making a living almost the same -- six months later.
So, for all that time before, it was all black and white.
It was all delineation; it was all just trying to figure out.
In hindsight, it was really trying to figure out like kind of God's dynamic -- the mechanism
that makes things the same. So whether, you know, I'd go out in the field
and I'd draw a bush or I'd draw leaf studies and things like that.
But then I'd also come and draw my mom's hands and thing like that.
And I'd also be drawing these little cartoon characters and stuff.
So at one point, all those things started to reveal a larger truth that was really a
simple truth. And that's the nicest things about them is
that I find the more profound truths are the real simple ones.
And that's what I like about cartooning too -- it's very direct, and there's not really
any pretense to it -- not in its physical application and not really so much in the
way that it's defined, so. I don't know if that answers your question.
Q Thank you.
David LeBatard: That long-winded answer answer your question.
>> [pause]
Q Thanks for coming, Lebo. I love the work. Question around Adidas and Gibson like, What
are they expecting from you? And, What do you feel obligated to do for
them? And then also a little bit about like the
economics or business model behind Arts Fund. Like, What is it that you guys are getting
out of it? Do you get, for example, percentage of sales
of future work sold etc.?
David LeBatard: The latter part yeah I think I'm better equipped to answer the first part
about it. But I've been real fortunate.
Like my relationship with Gibson basically started that there was these Gibson reps in
Miami that asked me to paint a guitar for them.
And in return, they gave me a really expensive guitar in return for that.
So it was very much -- we did that as a barter for six months where I had this collection
-- I don't play any instruments or anything like that.
[laughter] What I basically -- I didn't know what to do with them.
But I basically painted on them, and then I sold them.
And at the time, it was for a whole lot of money.
And I was like, "Wow, okay. I spend a day painting this guitar for them.
I spend another day doing it for me. And I made as much as I'd like to make in a week
normally for what I do." So, and that's the part of the thing that
the Arts Fund enables me to do. That's not my normal method of thinking, but
as a survival skill, I had to be like, "All right, I got to make this much money every
month to be able to pay my mortgage and put a little bit away in the bank." and so on
and so forth. So back to the Arts Fund thing.
They've enabled me to not have to worry about that as much.
Even though -- just being independent and a self-starter -- that's the way I always
think. And then -- and Gibson never asked me to do
anything outside of what I wanted to do. And I've always kind of favored the approach
to just work really hard and produce work rather than get into the political part of
art. Because, in the end, that's what I wanted
to hold on to the most. And I really feel like -- the people that
are attracted to my work -- they understand that vision.
And I've been given some really nice jobs and some really great projects that I never
would have thought I had the freedom to do what I did with them.
And the Adidas relationship and the Gibson is just an extension of that.
And when Gibson -- the showroom that I share with Gibson at home is bigger than this whole
room. And it's by appointment only.
They don't sell anything out of it. It's just a showcase for their instruments
and things like that. And they asked me to do three installations
for them that were similar to this. And in return, they gave me keys to the place
and parking, and basically, access whenever I want to use it.
So most of the -- actually, all of the relationships, whether they're friendships or business relationships,
they're all very symbiotic. And there's always a real positive give and
take. And I don't think there needs to be a lot
of sacrifice to it. I mean, even in relationships with, you know,
girlfriend or something like that, which I don't have -- I'm very single, so. [laughter]
But, you know, that it really should be about not making compromises all the time.
It should be about a natural fit. And of course, you're going to smooth out
the edges and things like that, but overall, it should just kind of be something that feels
right for both parties. So I don't know if that answers either --
I feel like I'm getting off course a little sometimes. [pause]
I think that's -- so now, you're ready for the dance? [laughter]
So yeah, if there's no more questions. And you're all welcome to come up to me individually
for whatever reason, so. I will bite, but only by request so. [laughter]
>> Thank you very much. Thank you.
>> [Clapping]
>> [silent]