Arrested Motion: Interview with Neck Face

Arrested Motion recently caught up with Neck Face during his installation at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibition for a quick interview covering a wide range of subjects. Amongst other things, they inquire about what got Neck Face started in the world of art and where his name originates, as well as a bit about his current setup at “Art in the Streets.” Excerpts from the piece are offered below for your reading pleasure:

When did you start doing art and graffiti? And where does the name Neck Face come from?
I’ve been drawing and shit since I can remember. I’ve been drawing and all that stuff since I was a little kid. And, I decided to do graffiti in like sophomore year of high school. I was like “ok, I want to do this.” And I gotta come up with a name that no one’s ever gonna come up with because you could come up with a dumb ass name like Star or Fire or some shit, and in the town next to you there’s Star2. I already knew that from my older brothers so I decided to come up with a name that nobody would ever think of.

What are some of your artistic and cultural influences? Where does your interest in haunted houses come from?
That’s just how I grew up. Haunted houses, my brother and my mom, everyone, my whole family have been building them for 27 years! I’m 26 so I grew up with this shit.

What do you think is the most controversial art piece you’ve ever done and what made you do it?
Probably the one of the guy shitting on the girl’s face. Cause my ex-girlfriend, I felt like I wanted to shit on her face so I did it.

Tell me about your Art in the Streets installation. What was your inspiration behind it?
My installation in the Art in the Streets exhibition is just the alley way. It ain’t always nice when you try and go see some fuckin’ shit on the street, you know what I mean? It’s like, “hey, Neck Face did this thing on the billboard or did this thing on the curb, and you gotta go check it out, but it’s in the middle of Harlem.” And you’re like, “Ah whatevers” so you go check it out and there’s fuckin’ people buggin you like, “get the fuck out of here, white boy!” You know what I mean? It’s just some real shit.

The interview in its entirety can be read here.