xhiller   |    Friday, der 18. October 2013

Ahhhh – who is Rider one? The graffiti artist who tagged up the building shown here in Köpenicker Strasse in Kreuzberg?  You can find graffiti artists in the net who go by the name of Rider. But, look a bit down in the middle toward the sidewalk and you’ll see the wording like a signature: SHMOK HARD.  Well, that stumps me. I love graffiti because it is in the world, on the street, a direct message in your face. Is this a Rider One piece? No, it is a picture of a Rider One graffiti. But at least you gotta love the blue…

Hmmm does it have to do with skateboarding? Or maybe with BMXing? Just brings to mind Maxime Charveron, a BMXer who got serious about his riding after he was fined for spraying art around in Lyon. He’s the one who said „The street is my office“ . He earns his dough throwing tricks with two wheels on the pavement – which is just another way of expressing that same energy.

Well, SHMOK could also refer to psychedelic mushroom music – electro trance, digital sound, dance music, dance hard. The other tags on the piece, OC and 13. Well I guess we’ll never know. But SHMOK HARD y’all!  Actually I hope that shmok is some kind of BMX move. Then it would all blend together — just right.