Trun: “Back in the day graffiti was just you, a can and the wall.”

Trun is among the pioneers of the Russian graffiti scene. Check this interview to learn more about the early years of Russian graffiti movement and what is the change between the old and the new generation of graffiti writers in Russia. 

What’s up, Trun? You are the first guest we are going to speak about graffiti. First of all, tell us a little bit about you. When did you start writing? How did you get involved?

Yo! Thank you! I’m so curious! My Name is Trun, I’m graffiti writer from Saint-Petersburg. I started my graffiti career back in 1999. And till now I’m involved as much as possible in it. 

Simple situation: I saw the guys painting some scribbles on the wall, it was something magical for me, so I decide to reproduce their picture on paper. Easy.

Was it difficult back in the days to be a graffiti artist/writer? What was the feedback from the society at that time?

Well, it depends… You know, back in the days graffiti was so romantic, no social media, no instagram, no internet kings, no cellphones, just you, a can and the wall. The real happiness was to meet a similar person to you, somebody who paints graffiti. And the only place where you could do it – street. Of course we had a lot of problems with misunderstanding. But we still have it, actually. Because graffiti is not for the masses. 

Nowadays we can see that the rawest and the purest part of hip hop scene dies! Of course, there are some artists that still bomb on the walls. But still we see that now the main part is about getting money from it, doesn’t even matter whether you are good enough. Do you agree with this statement and share with us your thoughts?

Of course! It’s just a natural selection. When you started to paint you had been surrounded by people who swore that they would never give up to paint. Turn around now… you stay alone. 

What do you think about the guys who don’t care about other artists’ piece of art and just paint directly on their graffiti on the wall? Usually they wrote something “dumb” only to become famous. What do you think?

It’s trendy now. You can get a lot of hype! Just do some outrageous acts. Nail your balls to the ground and you’re famous. But it’s not about graffiti.

During 2000-2004/05 almost on every jam we were able to see representation of all parts of hip-hop culture. Nowadays these elements are mostly separated, why do you think it is happening? If it’s breaking jam – rarely we can see graffiti artists. Your thoughts about it?

I can speak a lot about it, but in few words: now the main thing in the world is the individual Person. You do not need to be in a crew anymore to become famous. A DJ does not need MC anymore. B-boys don’t need colored graffiti scenery on the background. But still there are some friends from different hip-hop elements, like you and me for example. Like me and Fuze. You know… We should keep it.

How is it possible to unite all the hip-hop artists? What should we do to be always together?

I think it’s not possible. Knowledge as a value has gone. Money is the new value. B-boys don’t go to graffiti parties because they won’t get paid there. Graffiti artists don’t go to the b-boys’ jams cause it’s not possible to paint there and earn some cash. The same is with rappers. So, it is necessary to return Knowledge as value to unite all of us. While money rules the world, we can’t overcome the cult of personality. Something like this…

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What does it make a graffiti artist good one? Tell us your definition of so called “style” in graffiti art?

Well, in my graff world the main thing is the character of the artist. You can be a four-time cool painter, but if you are acting like a shit than we are not on the same way. Just be cool and you will get whatever you want! 

Imagine that you have the opportunity to organize just a graffiti festival. What are the main “ingredients” that would make it really good and would show people the essence of this culture?

Well, we had so many festivals aimed to explain the usual people what is graffiti. But still there a lot of people who simply hate it. It’s part of the game, so we just gotta deal with it.

Last question! Please, write down several names of graffiti artists who deserve to be known nowadays?

Knight (Kazakhstan)

Afix (Saint-Petersburg)

I really respect them. I hope they will be famous. Thank you! T.

You can follow Trun on Instagram here.

Core Team is thankful to Trun for this interview and support to our idea of spreading valuable knowledge.