Observant students have no doubt noticed the word “Crisp” tagged on sidewalks and the walls of buildings throughout campus. If you have, there is a good chance you are wondering what it all means.
I had the privilege to sit down with the artist behind the tags, and this is what we discussed:
First off, what is Crisp? The word specifically.
Well [Crisp] kind of started out of the blue. It just sounds good. It’s a word I can use for anything. It’s an adjective. I can say ‘this is crisp,’ or ‘it’s crisp outside’. And that evolved into my tag … my artistic name.
Where do you tag Crisp? Is it exclusive to campus?
No. There are some around town. You know the abandoned grain elevator across from Kroger? It doesn’t take long to write, so I’ve done them in lots of places. But it is more focused in the Capital area.
Why Capital?
I live around here. And it’s a place where a lot of people are going to walk. There’s a lot more people here that are going to see a Crisp than anywhere else.
What’s your motivation for tagging?
Just to get Crisp out there. To have people read it, hear it and see it.
How do you choose where to tag?
Well the main issue is that I use chalk. So I try to use surfaces that are easy to write on with chalk. Brick walls are not. So mostly the walls of buildings. I have written on the sidewalk, but I’m kind of deviating away from that.
Any particular reason why you don’t want to do sidewalks?
Because with sidewalks you have to be looking down to see it. If I can put it at eye level, you see it better.
What about the medium, why chalk?
I’m not trying to get people angry. It’s a good way to do it and no one’s going to pursue me … I don’t think I’ll be doing much spraypaint work around Capital. The school would not be very fond of that. Once I do that, I’ll probably start being pursued.
Do you ever do spraypaint stuff anywhere else?
Yes, I have before. At the grain elevator and other abandoned places like that.
How did you come up with the calligraphy?
I started out just writing crisp. I liked the way the letters looked together. Then I started experimenting with making it one solid motion. The weirdest part was fitting the ‘i’ into it, but I ended up making it 3-D, as opposed to just a straight line. I just wanted to find a way to not have to lift up my hand.
How long have you been tagging Crisp?
Around Capital, I only really started this year. Maybe six months ago. But I’ve been writing it on everything in school a long time. I used to write in on the walls in pencil. Now I’m expanding.
Who are you as an artist?
I’m just kind of free form … I do printmaking, scratch foam prints. I do this graffiti, and I’m a rapper as well. You’ll see my mixtape dropping in late summer.
Will that be under the same name?
Of course, it’ll all be under the same title of Crisp.
Any other plans going forward?
Well I’m certainly going to continue my work with Crisp. I do have plans to put up some more things around here that I’d say are cooler. And I’m definitely going to be expanding with the Crisp graffiti. Bigger better installments.
Is there anything else you want to tell our readers?
Basically, everybody should have a Crisp of their own, a tagline. Or at least get there name out there. It’s always good to have people thinking about you. You know, they say you die twice, once when you die, and again when people stop saying your name. And I think you die another time when your corpse is gone. So it’s good to have as many people see your name as possible.
