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For the series Graffiti and Beirut, here is an interview of "Cities" with Mickey.
– What made you interested in graphite in Lebanon?
One day, I met a French artist who had been arrested in the country, where graffiti was banned, so he decided to come to Lebanon during his vacation to paint without fear of being arrested by the police . When I heard this news, I found that the relationship between Lebanon and graphite was striking and so I wanted to know more.
– How did you start? How did you choose the artists?
I arrived in Lebanon in the summer of 2018 and I started to understand the country and to see graphite emerge. During the first period, I stayed for two weeks and met a number of artists. We had a long discussion that brought me closer to Lebanon's private life. In addition, I have read a lot, especially the sociologist Josephine Barento, who studied the Lebanese graphite scene. When it came to choosing the artists I was filming with, the option was Aweisa because they all have talent. I've tried to visualize with different profiles in terms of style, destination, age, gender, etc. To be surrounded by the whole scene, not a single part.
– And this scene?
What I noticed is that the landscape is very diverse, but it's not really a scene. Artists are a real group that reinforce each other. Far from their love for graffiti, they cooperate in life and business in general.
– Does the format followed by the production of "Pomping Beirut" correspond to graphite?
I do not know if this format is the most appropriate to talk about graphite in Beirut. But I adopted it because it fits my situation, the completion of this documentary series was a challenge, I have a week for each episode, so I have to meet the artist, photograph, record the sound, "produce", that "Amxj", translate, send In France, and published. All this in a week, so it's best to find a format designed to carry out this task. On a related plot, I wanted to make a speech to the artists, so that they do not show up in front of the camera and waste their time. The three-minute format helps document what they say or part of what they say by intensifying it.
– There is a common idea about graphite in Lebanon, which is the sum of the destruction of war and thus contributes to erase the effects, what do you think?
I can not talk about this idea, because I find the question of the relationship with the complex war here. But I think it's important to understand how artists, with their designs and lines, are trying to capture public space, streets and walls throughout the city.
– The other common idea is that it is not political, especially since it imitates its practice in modern cities …
Graffiti in Beirut is not political because it has nothing to do with a party and before religion. But at the same time, it is also political, so that artists leave messages on the walls, whether they are related to the concerns of life or to those of ecology, among others, all of which have a political significance. It must be said that the artists are connected to Beirut, with their heart, for example, "Excel", which uses Arabic, paints it, "fades" wherever it is, or "abs", which seeks to each time a suitable place for his graphite. The art of graphite in Beirut is not a simple simulation of the other, but on the contrary, with its history, it is possible to decide that it is richer than in other cities.
– As a visual artist, how do you find Beirut?
In short, Beirut is charming. Colors, geometries and contrasts. It was a visual slap for me, a slap in the positive sense of the word, so the light is more than wonderful.
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