Part art book and part graphic novel, FIRST & FIFTEENTH: POP ART SHORT STORIES is the work of Steve Powers, a New York-based graffiti artist with a six-count felony indictment to prove it! Look for our review within a few days; in the meantime, here’s a Q&A with the author/illustrator, as unconventional and welcome as his work.
BOOKGASM: Each page of FIRST & FIFTEENTH is suitable for framing. What media are used and, on average, how long did you spend crafting each page?
POWERS: Each page is enamel on aluminum. They took between three days and one week each, depending on if I had assistants helping and how distracted I was.
BOOKGASM: In terms of graffiti, where do you think the line between “vandalism” and “work of art” falls?
POWERS: It’s all a matter of catering; graffiti gets you a baloney sandwich, and “work of art” gets you wine and cheese.
BOOKGASM: And why do you think graffiti is still seen as the former rather than the latter by the general public? How does a book like this help change that, if at all?
POWERS: Graffiti is a name written where it doesnt belong, and the public’s perception of that depends on how threatened they are by it. The kids that write graffiti don’t think my book is graff, but they like it just the same. At least they can show it to their parole officers as an example of a vandal getting a job.
BOOKGASM: What’s up with Superfeen? What’s behind the creation of this hard-drinking, pill-popping, chain-smoking, mostly lazy superhero?
POWERS: He’s like a lot of people I know floating around in Manhattan. Superfeen is a step farther, though. He takes in wrong, and puts out right. That’s what makes Superfeen heroic. Most of the derelicts I know give off nothing but bad smells.
BOOKGASM: There are eight stories in the book, but everyone knows the Naked City has a million of them. Do you have plans to tell more? Is your daily life ripe enough to provide you with endless inspiration?
POWERS: I tell stories everyday. Some are even true. Just the other day, a group of church ladies saw me breezing through the airport, and one of them said, “Oooh, where you going dressed like that?” I said, “I’m already there.”
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