Vandalism

The prolific street artist Ben Eine, (née Ben Flynn), is best known his series of spray-painted letter murals on storefront shutters along London’s Middlesex Street, or “Alphabet Street”, as it has become known.

"I used to get into trouble a lot as a kid, but now I’m really interested in making the world a better place. I want people to walk down the street and see my artwork and feel happier, feel better, and not worry about the hard everyday stuff that’s weighing them down. I like to try and give them a bit of happiness."

"I’m kind of a wordsmith so lyrics really influence what I do. I often find that lyrics from songs find their way into my work, or I hear something in a song that then gets translated into something else in a piece I’m making. I always have a notebook or sketchpad on me and I’m always writing things down. I have loads of pages filled with random stuff tucked into different places all over my house, so when I’m listening to music at home and something strikes me, I jot it down and get back to it at a later date when I’m looking through my notes for ideas.

I like the way you can play with language – a word taken out of context means certain things and then you put it in a different context and it redefines the meaning of that word. I paint these walls and everyone takes something different from what I’ve written, and no one knows where it’s come from inside of me.

As an artist, when I make art I kind of lay myself down and put myself on offer and expose something of myself. I make things that are so personal and so important to me. I put them on a wall or hang them in an art gallery and folks come down and they buy it or like it or criticise it. I’m opening up my heart to criticism and listening to music helps me get through that process. There’s not one particular song or kind of music that does it, it depends on how I get up that day." - Ben Eine