{"id":24273,"date":"2021-04-23T09:14:06","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T07:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?p=24273"},"modified":"2023-01-07T22:37:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-07T21:37:29","slug":"semor-the-mad-25-years-graffiti-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/2021\/04\/semor-the-mad-25-years-graffiti-history\/","title":{"rendered":"SEMOR THE MAD ONE: About inspiration, freedom and 25 years of lived graffiti history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Prologue: The Basel line <\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was ten or twelve, I bought a weekend ticket and went to Switzerland \u2013 because I heard that the Basel line was the most colorful train line in the world. I told my mom back then that I was staying at a friend\u2019s house. I got off the train in Basel and somehow I knew that I had to put on a high-visibility vest. I had my camera and a huge pack of film with me, all analog of course, so I walked the train line and photographed everything I could capture. Dare pieces. Toast. Dream. The whole TWS crew. Click \u2013 click \u2013 click. The whole day. Overnight, I got settled in a train station and the next day I walked back another line. And then back home by train. In the end I had probably taken 30 films. Unbelievably expensive. But when the photos were finally developed, I had to wait what felt like five weeks, I celebrated it in such a way. I got myself a coke and looked at each photo in turn. Great, great, great. This is where I was! What a backflash! I still have the photos. So that was graffiti for me and from then on I knew that I wanted to stick with it.<\/em>\u201d \u2013 Semor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Graffiti painter, lecturer, freelance artist<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

He has stuck with it for more than 27 years now. Has tried out many things, developed further and never stood still, although pure street graffiti was never quite his thing. \u201cI grew up in the countryside, so it wasn\u2019t really an issue. Still, I think it\u2019s nice to look at\u201d, Semor says. At some point, he then decided to take more of a legal route \u2013 and within that he is now broadly positioned: He has not only developed his own style, but gives workshops, paints the one or other commissioned work and is active in the studio. And he also works as a lecturer at an art academy. Somehow, everything developed in this way; he was never the kind of person who would have pushed it with emphasis or actively promoted it. Rather, one thing always developed out of the other, Semor explains. Coincidences certainly played a role, but the conscious selection of projects also contributed to this broad foundation. \u201cAnd somehow, if I\u2019m honest, it was always my biggest dream to be able to make a living from it one day\u201d, he says. \u201cI.e. to be able to do really free work as well. That\u2019s exactly what everyone wants, isn\u2019t it? Sure, if you\u2019re realistic, you also know that it won\u2019t work out until you\u2019re 60. But I simply love studio work. That\u2019s why my focus is now also on that. I just love being here in my little room, working and trying out new things. So not necessarily new techniques, but just using the can as a different tool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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