Search - Dithers on DVD

Expected a lot more

M. Farber | NYC | 01/15/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"They profile something like 25 really great and inspiring artists on this triple dvd. However, each only gets a max of like 10 mins, which is fine, but that 10 mins is a very unfocused period. The first 2 discs are done by someone who basically interviews every Westcoast graphic designer/'street' artist, most of whom have since been commissioned by skate companies etc., and talk a bunch about their collabos with major companies. the interviews are lacking. Then, on the 3rd disc, Ricky Powell handles the interviews, and while he gets to interview GODS in the original NYC grafitti scene like Seen, Kwik, Jest, Dalek, Kostas etc., Ricky is such a mind-wandering burnout that they're more like a wasted idiot with a camera fixed on a giggling, confused artist more than they are actual interviews. I love Ricky powell's humor and his place in nyc is certainly well deserved as a lippy luminary, but bottom line is he's done way too much dust to be asking anybody questions about anything. The 'extras', which by their titles seem really dope, are a waste of time, save for the Revolt one, which at least lasts a bit. In the video of Ssur's studio (who is my personal hero in that scene, and from whom I expected a full interview), SSur says like mayyybe 2 words. Literally. Because nothing like this has really been done before, with this type of collective of artists at least, or this long a roster, I have to give it some props, but it is definitely not well put together, cohesive in any way, and oh yeah the music backdrops to each interview are all from Ubiquity (wack) and some other fake instrumental hiphop labels that obviously didn't charge much or anything for music licensing.

All in all, I was decently satisfied, but by the 3rd disc, I was really hoping for so much more. Considering how much lots of these guys (and a couple gals) have contributed to modern design and culture in metro city society, there could have been a much more professional and/or in-depth approach to the whole DVD set.

Worth checking out, but I'll probably sell mine on ebay."