I got my copy of the new FRANK 151 book yesterday.(Thank you/You know who you are)
This new chapter(Chap.41) is dedicated entirely to THE SEVENTH LETTER...
"The scope of SEVENTH LETTER can't be captured in 160 pages. If anything, this chapter should serve as a comprehensive introduction to the crew. With so many creative juggernauts involved, it would take volumes to do every artist justice"
The cover artwork is by REVOK. The clear plastic is a nice touch because it does not take away from the artwork and it keeps the branding subtle so you don't forget who this was all brought to you by.
Here are some sneaky peeks.
Lets put aside the eye candy and get to the guts of this book, yes that means your going to have to read.
There are a number great snippets in here, like did you know RISK used to write SURF ? (Dont blast me for not knowing, I'm a youngin, still learning)
" I was just sitting in class- I think it was the last period of the day-drawing on my notebook, when this kid leaned over my shoulder and asked me what I wrote. I had no idea what he was talking about, but he kept asking me. After he explained what he meant, I thought, I draw waves a lot, and the ocean surf. I'll write "SURF". About a month later I broke into the school and covered the entire hallway in big waves and "SURF" everywhere. I guess you could say that was my start"
RETNA''s words are some of the best in the entire book, and straight up between you, me and the whole damm internet world, almost made me cry.
" I lost a couple of great friends, VERSE and AYER. AYER was amazing. He was the first one to pass away. AYER was a great, influential person on many artist and many people. He influenced them with his character, his honesty, and by being there if you needed him. For a lot of us it felt like maybe we weren't there for him when he needed us. But you cant go back into the past. We just try to remember what he stood for.
AYER was good at surfing. He was good at writing. He was good at fight-He was good at beating peoples ass- And he was good at making you smile, joking around. He was good at stealing. Fucking kid was good at everything he did. And that might been a problem when it came to the gang thing, because he was probably good at that, too. He ended up taking his own life. I think a lot of us were emotionally unstable throughout that period, and he knew that these thoughts were going through our heads. A graffiti writer always wants to hit a spot first, before anyone else. The way I looked at it was, he did this thing first so none of us would ever do it."
" Theres another weird phenomenon about graffiti- When you know somebody through there work before you actually meet them, you have an image of what they are like or what they might look like, and they are always completely different what you expect. I always thought that GKAE was just gonna be this ill cholo guy, and he is a super normal, super small white dude."
Another great read is how REVOK was this great white whale that got away in the eyes of so many authority figures and the chase that ensues. He also made a really great point on the investigation/prosecution of graffiti writers.
" They ended up paying eight or nine cops overtime to come and raid my house, arrest me, and drive me 160 miles back to Indio to book me for something that in all actuality cost probably $30 to paint over. I think my lawyer estimated that it was anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 they spent on the total investigation, prosecuting me, everything. It's no wonder the state of California is nearly bankrupt."
The book came out great and there are a number of intriguing experts I left out so make sure you pick up your copy when it drops. Reading is cool again.
