Mother loves BNE

BNE Was Here sticker -- Photo taken in Sukhumvit, Bangkok by Nat Wein

Thanks to Mother I recently interviewed, via email, a graffiti artist known as BNE.

Mother is big ad agency with big clients (like Coca-Cola and Stella Artois), that does interesting and creative work. They are opening a huge New York office (36,250 sq. ft.) at 11th avenue and 44th street in Hell’s Kitchen and across the street from Ogilvy. I was there last Thursday to attend a party they threw in celebration of their new office that was also promoted / co-sponsored by New York culture magazine ANIMAL. The guest of honor was BNE, but he/she/they was not present…as far as I know.

BNE has a secret identity and is prolific in the sense that the stickers and painted stencils that say “BNE” are in major cities all over the world. Enough to get print, tv, and web media coverage by major and minor outlets including a recent New York Times article. Coverage garnered, I suspect, thanks to a little help from trend / cool hunters representing agencies that tell the media what is cool and news worthy. There is no other logical explanation, because prolific tagging is not new.

BNE at Mother -- Photo courtesy of Mother, New York

The party was also billed as BNE’s first art show. The art at the opening included the big BNE initials/acronym that have provided the attention to date, and then some pieces where the BNE acronym were placed on top of brand icons like Bart Simpson and Spiderman obscuring the iconic characters as though the brand of BNE is so large, and aggressive, that it is stealing the exposure, the real estate, the consumers’ attention from the long established brands that play by the old rules of branding.

The party seemed to be Mother illustrating a point on branding, and the point was to blur the lines between branding and art, between commerce and art, between life and commerce, between life and art, between old established brands and “brand you.”

Mother and I actually have a lot in common, they build brands and advertise which is pretty much what I do. The only difference is that I do it illegally and my product is art. – BNE

There were same graffiti writers at the party that tagged up a wall in the basement of Mother New York’s new headquarters. For the most part the attendees were people like me — mostly younger — drinking the Stella ( a Mother ad account ). Nothing wrong with that!

BNE, if he / she / they do exist, is/are a tagger, that has been co-oped by a brand, and the brand is an ad agency out for some media coverage but perhaps more importantly an agency with a ton of money to burn in order to have a more impressive reel to help sell *their* brand to more clients. And the way they sell their brand, and get new clients, is to provide examples of the new branding strategy that is hard to explain but much easier to illustrate.

DJ Johnny Santos, Gui Borchert, CD of Syrup (New York) and Paul Malmstrom, ECD of Mother (New York) -- Photo courtesy of Mother, New York

The branding strategy on display at the BNE opening at Mother is that a brand has to create associations with or even actually create new micro-brands to be successful. In other words, you have to buy credibility. A brand has to appear to be new by moving away from the consumer so the new brand or co-oped brand association is foregrounded using very big budgets to help saturate the market. If you are Budweiser you can make your money through microbrews. If you are Disney you can make your money through smaller production companies. You can then sell to an increasingly cynical and jaded but, importantly, broader target audience because that target audience does not have to buy Bud anymore but can instead buy the sub-brand that feels more unique, more “outsider”. Like outsider / street art, for example.

BNE is similar in terms of market saturation. Where the money comes from I don’t know, but the strategy of market saturation is the same. And, probably as a result of this truth, the majority of people I talked to at the party, including several of Mother’s own staff, seemed cynical about the sincerity of both BNE and Mother.

BNE Was Here work at the Mother opening -- Photo courtesy of Mother, New York

It is interesting to explore the evolution of what branding means and to create a dialogue about commerce vs. art. This BNE art opening by Mother was an effort to do so and to stay near the leading edge of that dialogue. But there was no moment where Mother moved the dialogue forward. Sure, as the stickers say, “BNE was here”. But Kilroy was as well, over 60 years ago.

Kilroy Was Here graffiti -- Source Unknown, Wiki Creative Commons

Here is my interview with BNE. Facilitated by the PR director of Mother. I’ve not had any direct communication with BNE.

–
NoD: I’ve heard you are Benet (San Francisco-based graffiti artist) and a Sydney-based hip hop band called Bliss N Eso. Can we proceed with the questions assuming both of these identities are true?

BNE: Benet was a graffiti writer from the 90s who is not around anymore. And no, I am definitely not part of an Australian hip-hop group.

NoD: What I take from your stickers, and the sheer volume of them, is that there is a tension being built that is about to explode. Perhaps you have something on your mind and you are going to share that with us…or you don’t and you are more of a Forrest Gump character that will one day simply say, “I thank I’ll stop now.” (< --- Read like Forrest Gump.)   So which will it be -- (a) the big message / meaning of life (my fingers are crossed) or (b) a romantic Forrest Gump moment / Art for Art's Sake / "I thank I'll stop now"?

BNE: This is something that I  have been doing for about 15 years and have no plans to ever stop. My work in the street is very repetitive and is meant to be that way. There IS  meaning and a message in my work, I just don’t feel the need to spell it out. 

NoD: The media coverage you have received surprises me.  Not that you are undeserving of some attention, but it is still somewhat surprising at the level of coverage from major outlets and it is interesting how polarized people get over what you do.  Are you surprised by the coverage? Why do you think you have received so much attention.

BNE: I am  not really surprised by the coverage. I get a lot of media attention because people are curious and there is a story behind the mystery.

NoD: You are having your first art opening with an advertising agency.  Does that contradict what many find inspirational about graffiti / street art? The attitude of taking back public space vs. selling it?  Or perhaps the opposite it true, that Mother New York is giving the streets back. Hmmm…what’s the relationship between you and Mother? (That sounds like a really personal question!)

BNE: I don’t think that I’m contradicting myself at all. I’m not anti-advertising. I do take public space and always will. Nothing has changed. Mother understands and likes my art. They provided me with a space to do what I wanted to do. Mother and I actually have a lot in common, they build brands and advertise which is pretty much what I do. The only difference is that I do it illegally and my product is art.
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NoD: Are you a fan of any street artists?

BNE: I don’t like the term “street artist,” but as far as the streets go, I like and respect people who put in work consistently for a long time. Running around for 6 months or a year doesn’t make you somebody in the streets. An ice skater or pianist will spend their whole life perfecting what they do with decades of hard work behind them. Graffiti is no different. MQ DMS and TIE ONE ( Rest In Peace) are artists who I respect.        

NoD: What commercial art do you like? Films, books, websites, etc?

BNE: Do you think someone as narcissistic as me actually pays attention to what other people do!? I’m just kidding. I like a lot of stuff. Too many to mention.

NoD: Do you do other street art other than your stickering?  Do you work alone? Are you a “you” or a “them”?

BNE: Stickers are just one of the tools I use. And when it comes to the labels, I work alone.

NoD: What do you do to make money?

BNE: From now on….art.

NoD: How old are you?

BNE: BNE

NoD: Where are you from?

BNE: BNE

NoD: What is your name?

BNE: BNE

NoD: Did I get you to confess!?

BNE: BNE BNE BNE BNE BNE BNE BNE BNE