SpaceCadetz is very proud to present our latest interview with one of the dopest European brands that you’ve probably never heard of. Mekanism is a leading skateboard company based out of Paris, France, and they’ve been making plenty of waves not only locally, but in the global arena as well. The founder, Fred Maechler, was kind enough to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for SpaceCadetz. Enjoy the interview and be sure to stop by www.mekanismskateboards.com to peep the goods.

What’s up, Fred. Please tell the SpaceCadetz readers who you are and what you do.

31 years old, live and work in Paris, France. I’m the founder and director of Mekanism. And from time to time I write a column at Highsnobiety.com called “The Columnist” about design, art and everything I find interesting.

So about Mekanism. What is the company all about and how did it get started?

Mekanism is a skateboard brand based in Paris and founded in 2002. I work in the skateboard industry since 95, as owner of a skateshop from 95 to 98 and of a distribution company of US skate brands in France since 99. In 2002 I came to a level where I was missing something, none of the brands of the skateboard industry had exactly the same vision of skateboarding that I had so I started Mekanism. Mekanism has a guideline, to communicate through a sober, very graphic field of vision, avoiding the superfluous, without sacrificing comfort and meaning. Since 2005 it has evolved as an UFP (unidentified flying project): we invite artists on limited-edition decks. We try to propose to a young audience the work of artists they are not always familiar with.

I’m assuming that many people on MySpace have never been to France before. This may seem like a very general question, but how would you characterize or describe the youth cultural scenes in France, particularly the skateboarding scene?

The skate/street industry is pretty big and independent in France, we have our own brands, magazines and videos. But I must admit that most of the teenagers are still obsessed by the US brands. The older people support more the French scene.

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of running Mekanism from France?

The disadvantage is that in this skate/street culture in order to get recognized abroad, and even in France, you have to get recognition in the US at first. Only then people start to consider what you do. That means a lot of work and patience. The advantage is that once you got that coverage over there you are noticed easier because few of those projects are coming from France.

Each new season is given a theme, for example the ORIGAMI Series from Fall 2003. Is theme selection based on the art or how does that process work exactly?

The theme of each series comes from the mind of our graphic designer Saviane Auzende, except the Lego series done by Sébastien Caldas. Each theme is a mix of the in-thing with skate/street culture, modern and contemporary art.

Speaking of the art on your decks, I have to say that Mekanism has really elevated that to a whole new level, especially with the artist collaborations. The more recent collab was with German artist Katharina Grosse, in which she spray painted 100 decks in her signature style. How did that one come about?

I discovered her work at her exhibition at Palais de Tokyo in Paris last year and took a slap. I contacted her and ask her to do our next limited-edition deck. She agreed immediately. At first I proposed her the same format as all the other artists, a limited edition of 100 decks. After she agreed, I continued to study her work and thought that using such a medium, the spray gun, directly on 100 blank decks could give an even more interesting result. I proposed her this second method and she preferred this one as well. 100 original and unique skateboards were then created.

Our new project is with Invader. Last year we did with him a limited-edition of 100 skateboards and now he created three skateboards covered with real tiles and conceived a different mosaic for each deck. Three original and unique works of art on skateboards.

Have you thought about expanding the Mekanism brand into other areas like clothing?

We did t-shirts, sweatshirt, caps and accessories. But not on a regular basis, we produce new products whenever we feel like doing it.

You recently joined MySpace. How has your experience been so far?

It’s an easy way to maintain and expand your network. Especially when most of your contacts are abroad.
Any shoutouts?

You, Scott, for the interview, Saviane, Cédric, PY, all the artists we have worked with, all the people and media that support us.

http://www.mekanismskateboards.com

http://www.myspace.com/mknsm

The Crewest Gallery houses not only an art showroom for talented underground artists, but is a storefront as well. The shop (also online) stocks everything from spray paint and related equipment, to dope tshirts and hoodies, and hard-to-find books and magazines too. Getting back to the gallery though, Crewest is located in the trendy downtown art gallery row of Los Angeles and is known for its SoHo-like atmosphere. It’s a dope looking space for sure, and you should definately check it out if you’re in the area. The next Crewest show starting in September is called “The Hidden Future,” and will feature top-notch musicians and artists including George Clinton.

Crewest MySpace Profile

Buzz-building company Streetwise Concepts & Culture has a dope MySpace profile and rightfully so. Streetwise is a network of 70,000 young adults that various companies tap into when they want to hype up upcoming product launches like a new movie or video game. For example, members can pick from various teams to participate in that currently include Dave Matthews Band, Talladgea Nights, and the Nokia Unwired campaign. Upon signing up to a team, members receive free music, tshirts, DVDs, video games, and lots more to help spread the word among their peers.

It’s pretty obvious that having a strong MySpace presence is an absolute must for recruiting more members and spreading the word about existing campaigns. Their roster of 70,000 members dwarfs their MySpace friend list of 3,800+, which is kind of ironic, but I’m sure MySpace peeps will be all over this in no time.

Streetwise MySpace Profile

Check out this dope video special on Shepard Fairey, founder of the Obey Giant campaign/company/phenomenon. The video is for the G4 TV Networks show ICONS, and is the first part of a multi-installment series on Shep. Content and footage-wise this is much better than the interview Shep did with Perry Farrell that I posted a few weeks ago.

A few weeks ago I blogged about a very cool online community called Mojizu that allows artists to display their characters. Well now Mojizu has come up with a neat download called the Mojicon Dispenser, which gives you access to literally thousands of characters that you can use in your emails and chat. The downloadable program is 100% free, and doesn’t contain any spyware or adware. It’s also compatible with Yahoo IM, MSN IM, AIM, Firefox, and Outlook.

Artists, this is a great way to get your work out into the world and make some money too while you’re at it. Consumers, I don’t think it gets much easier than this if you are looking to spiff up your chatting or email experience.

MySpace Profile Link

When one thinks of the typical suburbs in America, usually thoughts of kids happily playing on the street come to mind, along with the prerequisite cookie-cutter homes and wide open streets. However, a photographer who goes by the name DR, has made it his personal mission to uncover the raw, dirty underbelly of America’s cities. His project is called American Suburb, an extensive collection of his photographs that feature young children as the subjects. Using that perspective, DR paints a picture of today’s youth as a disenfranchised and neglected segment of society. Look closely at the way DR captures the kids’ eyes and you almost feel the raw energy and potential that they have inside themselves. It’s amazing stuff and definatley not to be missed. AmericanSuburb.com. Go now.

MySpace Profile Link

If you are a toy fanatic then you might already know about this site, but in case you don’t, SpaceCadetz is here to put you on to a blog called Vinyl Pulse. The focus at Vinyl Pulse is the burgeoning designer vinyl niche market that’s known for its pop culture inspirations and painstaking attention to detail.

With new toys hitting the market every day, many of which are very limited in quantity, Vinyl Pulse is a solid resource that keeps you current so you don’t miss out on the latest and greatest toys. Even if you’re not into collecting personally, check out the blog anyway because a lot of the toys on Vinyl Pulse make great gifts.

MySpace Profile Link

SpaceCadetz welcomes an extremely talented graphic/visual/musical artist named John Karborn whose talents truly defy convention. He’s been busy blazing new trails on your computer screen, in your speakers, and on your DVD player. Don’t believe me? Take a look at the YouTube video below that John made. After you find yourself sufficiently impressed, read the interview and ponder his genius.

How’s it going, John? Thanks so much for doing this interview. Why don’t you take a few minutes to tell the SpaceCadetz readers who you are and what you do?

Morning! Well, its afternoon here in London really. I’m devouring some blue cheese with avocado in a beautiful baguette, wonderful.

What I do? I always dread that question, I am never quite sure what to say on that. I perform art and visuals, by perform I mean I don’t just sit in a room alone always painting or working or designing, it’s often in the form of live performance, with gigs and crews as a VJ, mixing, mashing effecting video and visuals live. I bring visual personality to anything that needs it, and I interpret and present ideas and concepts in the form of my pieces and output. I am a catalyst for what I get involved with. I am a freelancer and run things my way, with the people/artists I respect.

How would you characterize your overall style considering that the breadth of work is clearly quite diverse and varied?

Psychadelic montage, a flash of London surreality, very modern. But at the same time, I have a strong lean to the classic, to the romantic, and to the beautiful. I am in love with a million, million colours, and adore both the beautifully simple, and the very complex. The more simple, often being the most effective and complex!

One of your more recent and high-visibility projects was working on Nikelab.com. Could you elaborate on what Nikelab.com was all about and what your role was in the project?

Yeah, that was a massive project, done at the very end of 2004/ beginning of 2005. I think it’s offline now from the main nikelab site now, but, huge! My role in that beast was to assemble, create and mock up elements and scenes for it, as well as writing documentation to help direct the feel of the whole project, it’s music, the way it would animate, from the sky down into the ground and back up out, the macro to the micro. The inspiration was to come from nature, from the world around us. My visuals were deep, complex creatures that each were to capture a very romantic view of nature, and provide depth to the project. More detail than that on the Nike project I don’t want to go into, I have spoken about it too much since it was done, and in all honesty, I am fed up of talking about it now. I almost wish people would focus on other projects, like the John Foxx – Cathedral Oceans DVD, which is coming out soon, or the System Error project, or paranoidplant.com

Simple answer, NO. I get bored easily, I want to touch everything, get everywhere, if I could do art on the insides of your muscles, bones and brain, I would. Actually, speaking in one sense, I can. Brains, bodies and minds, watch out!

When looking back on all the creative projects you’ve done, which is your favorite and why?

The one I am really feeling at the moment, is the John Foxx – Cathedral Oceans DVD, that will be out at the end of 2006, even though my work on it is finished, and the DVD is ready for press, it’s being held up by the usual bureaucratic nonsense that goes with these kinda projects. That is an amazing, beautiful, clever, perfect beast of a project, I can’t wait to see it playing out at Optronica, OneDotZero, OFFF, and all those, because they are all going to get it for playing in 2007, possibly it will start being seen as soon as within the next month here in the UK at a few shows we can catch with preview copies. As for why it’s my favourite, well, you will see why……

You are part of an elite group of creative individuals called the KDU. What is the KDU and why do you guys seem to kick so much ass?

The KDU is a NY based collective, and assembles the best of the creative, in any form, together under one roof. The KDU is also a structure to back with business, together we stand, divided we fall vibes. The KDU, from what I can see as a member and the way we are going about things at the moment, is seriously going to step up as a force in the next couple of years to be reckoned with. Much love to all the members, and especially Gensler and Aerosyn-lex for their management and running that beast.

Same question for The Clarabellas. The group’s slogan is “Not a collective, nor agency.” What is The Clarabellas then?

It’s a unity, that’s all, although I think the Clarabellas is on a kind of ice at the moment, let’s see.

You’re based in London, UK. For those of us the in United States and other countries across the globe, what is the current state of things artistically, musically, culturally, etc. in the UK, as seen through the lens of John Leigh?

You must know your stuff Scott, this must be a favorite question of mine, one that makes mates and people who know me groan, because I’m revoltingly enthusiastic about the UK and what’s happening here, that’s the truth. A beautiful balance here, of many different races, many different peoples, from all over, all collaborating, all in a big melting pot, beautifully simmering together. The music and art and output, energy, enthusiasm and uniqueness I see here in the UK, particularly London, is second to none. More free we are as a society, more liberal than Americans, certainly. The rave, drugs and creativity that came from our massive drive into electronic music, helped by the Jamaicans who always made a big impact in London and continue to do so, living and working here means we do things fast, raw, gritty and quickly. Which is great, being put on the spot and expected to react immediately, no time to think, just time to react, is a truly powerful thing to push the chaff from the grain.

I want to forward the UK visually, in its business sense, in which we have always been weak, for some reason, us British hate business and most of our major creative’s and artists live in relative poverty to their American counterparts, but then we ain’t greedy for money, we greedy for challenge, and to take it forward. So, everyone been outstripped time ago, and were leading, not in guns and violence and politics, but in creativity, collaboration and output. As far as I see it, I would never want to be anywhere else. NY and Japan seem solid enough places to take my wares, so let’s see. Hopefully people will disagree with what I say there, but I think it’s spot on.

I always liked saying this: The main difference between the US and the UK is this, imagine a chemical reaction in something the size of a pond, then imagine the same one in a test-tube….. the difference, is intensity and speed of said reaction.

What are some of your inspirations?

Mostly now, from music, just the emotion of music, particularly the Dubstep and Grime scenes I have been seeing rising up here in London recently, the dark, deep durty, minimal beats are just up my street. Reggae devil worship, as my flat mate called it, haha. Graffiti, nature, people, hate, love, blah blah. The desire for a structural change in society is pushing me along at the moment too…..

How has MySpace been treating you so far?

Dope, actually. I am impressed with this MySpace phenomenon, shame it had to happen on MySpace, get me? It has brought some incredible new contacts for people I never thought I could get hold of, from the most known to the smallest, everyone seems to be there. Take the power back vibes, there is going to be a big change in the balance of control from the major to the minor players, I know people said all this before. But it’s true. Let’s watch it evolve.

What projects are you currently working on, and are there any planned for the future that you’d care to talk about?

I am really busy this time of year, always. I will give a quick rundown of whats going on. I got a number of personal projects/collaborations with other artists, most of which are looking to be completed by the end of summer. My focus on working with musicians and artists is at a peak, I am jamming live with Akira The Don, doing the visuals and mashing that up around the UK with him. I’m still awaiting this project with Amon Tobin, on the Ninjatune label to begin soon, for his new album which is coming out in January 2007 I believe, I’m doing a set of 10 big & beautiful pieces for him.

The System Error project has been a big one, and we really got together some of the best UK/Jamaican MC’s and musicians for that one, The album is looking for launch before the end of this year, the website and first LP, featuring Horace Andy, Earl 16, and Brother Culture, is looking to be out before the end of summer, I do art work right across that project, to the live shows and input on where we are taking it, etc.

Might be something coming up soon for D&G too, they dropped me a line last week, Playlouder.com is looking to have input from me on their new website, in terms of user experience, and I am doing a beautiful large scale piece with Dan, called Nature Is War, huge canvas with crazy fluorescent vibes and warfare in nature on a mass scale. *breathes in deeply* I am also working on a number of personal pieces, those will be out sooner than later, as I have full control over them…..

Re-reading that paragraph, its fucking messy, but yeh, it gives the point, that’s how it actually feels to have it all hanging over me, like a massive balloon of psychic fuzz, mmmmm.

Any shoutouts?

Yep, shoutouts I have. FUCKING HUGE RESPECT to AKIRA THE DON & The Don Squad, playing with you guys is dreams in reality, I swear it. MUCH love to SYSTEM ERROR, and that project, which is pushing out soon. Of course to THE KDU & THE CLARABELLAS. JOHN FOXX, my brain has started shaking so I’m going to stop the shoutouts there, but those of you I miss, each and every time, you know who you are. EVERYONE in the UK music, art, creative scene, without the immense drive here, there would be nothing.

John Karborn’s MySpace Profile

www.karborn.com

Helvetica is a full-length independent documentary film that investigates the deeper and more subtle ways in which type affects our daily lives. Using the now ubiquitous font helvetica as the thematic centerpiece, the film explores urban spaces with regards to the fonts that inhabit them, and also engages in discussions with world renowned designers about the aesthetics and rationale behind their choices of type.

Helvetica was filmed in the United States, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France and Belgium. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until 2007, at which time it will start screening at various film festivals around the world. For now, you can check out the online store and purchase a limited edition (100 pieces) print for the film or a tshirt with the movie logo screened on the front.

MySpace Profile Link

It all started with a true story. In Japan, a dog named Hachiko used to accompany its owner, a university professor, to and from the train station each day. Without fail, Hachiko would wait patiently in the same spot until the professor returned from work. Then one day the professor passed away while at work, and left Hachiko waiting. But every day the dog would make its way back to the train station and wait, until it too passed away. The dog is now memorialized by a bronze dog that sits atop an 8-foot high marble pedestal.

New York designer Brad Digital learned of this story while sitting at that train station in Japan and asking an elderly man about the memorial. The story inspired Brad to make his own Hachiko, as his own dogs had just passed away, and his father as well. The result is a piece called Little Brooklyn. Brad created Little Brooklyn three years ago for an art show, and since then he has invited numerous designers to create their own custom Little Brooklyns to put up for charity auction. Little Brooklyn can now be found in various spots around NYC, as viewable here. Add him to your friends today!

MySpace Profile Link