Interview with eL Seed
Born to Tunisian parents in Paris’ suburbs, French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed juggled different cultures, languages and identities throughout his youth. He spoke to fluoro about his unique style, heritage, responsibilities as a street artist, and his biggest accomplishment so far on a personal and artistic level.
eL Seed’s world is an outcome of two combined. His identity and unique, distinctive style took the best from both worlds. His trademark is his characteristic calligraffiti style, which is an art that combines traditional Arabic calligraphy with graffiti.
eL Seed who has “always been into art since my childhood”, discovered the hip-hop culture in the late 90s and heavily involved himself in graffiti and break dancing. His quest for a clear identity stirred a desire to learn about his culture, history, and traditions, which now all appear in his artwork. He sources his inspiration from people that he meets, books that he read, and situations from everyday life. “For example one of my recent projects was developed after seeing my daughter playing with her toys.” The artist noted.
The development of eL Seed’s unique style came to life as he developed. eL Seed who always spoke the Tunisian dialect, only started learning literal Arabic at the age of 18. “I was born and raised in France and felt the desire to get back to my roots so I started taking some Arabic classes and discovered Arabic calligraphy, but I couldn’t find any teacher.” the artist explained. “I started reproducing classical calligraphy without knowing there were rules to this ancient art.” Later, after meeting graffiti artist Hest 1, eL Seed’s art took the characteristic shape he is now known for, as he started bringing calligraphy into graffiti. eL Seed’s distinctive style, calligraffiti was born. Since these early days his art has continued to develop. “I can see the evolution of my work over the years in terms of the shapes, the dynamic, the scale and the medium as well. My work is on a constant evolution and I always try to bring new challenges to myself.”
One project that saw eL Seed’s artistic journey venture into new realm was a collaboration with iconic French fashion house Louis Vuitton on a new design of a classic monogram scarf. The luxury brand approached eL Seed with the quest to reinterpret the classic scarf with his calligraffiti style. “When Louis Vuitton approached me I found the proposal really interesting – bringing the spirit of the streets into a luxury brand. I saw it as an opportunity to create a clash but it turned out to be the contrary. I tried to look for two different worlds, particularly the separation of East and West, which is a disconnection I don’t believe in. I wanted to use this scarf as a way to show people that these ‘clashing’ worlds are not actually contradictory.” eL Seed used a fairly unknown part of the history of Venice to prove this point while working on the project. The artist explained that in the 12th century the Pope forbid the city of Venice from trading with the Arabs, yet the Venetians refused and went against the ruling power by continuing trade with the Arabs. “I expressed the values of tolerance, acceptance, and unity with a visual revival of the poem Venice Carnival recounted by Taha Muhammad Ali. By using this poem, I wanted to pay homage to the city of Venice. I take great pride in being the first Arab artist to design a product for Louis Vuitton.”
The message used for the scarf echoes eL Seed’s belief that he, as a street artist has a responsibility towards the society, especially as much of the artwork is created in and for the streets. “I believe we are here to bring people together and build understanding between communities.”
Following the collaboration with Louis Vuitton, eL Seed was approached by a number of brands wishing to form similar collaborations, but the artist does not have an intention to work further with the fashion world in the near future as we wishes keep work on his own projects.
The latest of such projects was turning 2D calligrafitti into 3D sculptures that were presented at an exhibition in Dubai. The exhibition featured large-scale sculptures weaving through the walls and floors, spilling beyond the confines of the gallery. eL Seed explained that this work was an approach to make the viewer more involved with the piece, moving away from being a mere spectator. “Each stroke of a letter, each word seeks to build an affinity with the spectator and invite them to be part of the conversation – a conversation between the poem, the language, and the form. Jean Cocteau said, “There is no love. There are only proofs of love’’ and bringing my art into a sculpture form was a way to allow it to materialise.” The sculptures were still tied to his distinctive visual language, but by releasing the letterforms eL Seed discovered new territories for expression that celebrates and elaborates his deep respect and love for this art.
eL Seed explained that the most challenged part of developing new pieces of art is reaching what you have in mind. He believes “it is always good to get out of your comfort zone.” The biggest personal as well as artistic accomplishment achieved by the artist was the art piece painted on the Jara Mosque in eL Seed’s hometown Gabes, Tunisia. “After getting the approval of the local Imam and town mayor I spent one month suspended 47 meters above the ground painting the tallest minaret in the country.” The mural displays a verse from the Quran about mutual tolerance. The verse reads “Oh mankind, we have created you from a male and a female and made people and tribes so you may know each other.” eL Seed explained his choice of this verse which, like many of his art works, expresses a political message. “What I liked the most about this verse is that it addresses, not only the Muslim community, but is a universal message to all mankind as an invitation for people who have different opinions, religions and backgrounds to meet and understand each other despite their differences.”
eL Seed, who is living his dream, recently travelled to Vancouver to take part in a TED event, presenting his work as a TED2015 fellow. He is also currently working on a new project, which we will be shared across fluoro in time.
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