The Four Hundred Magazine
Artist Interview: Made X Forever
Chaotic apocalyptic fervor clashes with enticing consumerist advertising in the art work of MADE X FOREVER. Enamored by the
spontaneous growth and evolution of the natural process within the billboards of metro areas, MADE X FOREVER seeks to expose
the beauty of ads interacting with graffiti. Here we have an exclusive interview with MADE X FOREVER himself, where he discusses
his ideals concerning his work, the connection of advertising on the human psyche, and his aspirations.
Why do you use ads in your artwork?
I am fascinated by the closeness of advertising and art. All the time I’m finding it more difficult to distinguish between the
two. The critical difference is that ads seduce you for the sole purpose of financial gain. Part of my job, as I see it, is
to work with the duplicity in these advertisements; ads hide their intent beneath a beautiful surface and I repurpose that
beautiful surface to defy or enhance the underlying intent. Using advertisements as the foundation of my creative work allows
me to investigate, and affect this strange relationship.
What is your relationship with ads, commercials, and consumerism?
It’s impossible to avoid in today’s society, and I’m connected the same as everyone else is. Our generation is the most
fervently consumerist in history, and our identity is often conferred on us by things we buy; the clothes you wear, the items
you collect, the cigarettes you smoke, these are the things that surround you and tell others (and yourself) who you are. What’s
terrifying about this is that one day you could wake up and realize the center is hollow; you’re not a person with convictions
and beliefs, just a collection of possessions. What I see, and what my art strives to caution is a society living by the motto
“I buy therefore I am.”
In your art, there’s a post-apocalyptic/dystopian vibe in it. Is that on purpose? If so, why? Is there a message you are trying
to convey to your viewers?
I discovered Made X Forever by observing billboards in metro systems. A lot of those billboards have been up for a very long time
and they’ve been subjected to layers and layers of ads, graffiti and vandalism. Once a new ad is pasted over the carnage, it’s
only a matter of weeks before the busy environment of the metro wears it down, revealing the history of the billboard beneath.
It’s a reminder of how fleeting these trends are, and since modern life isn’t much more than a sequence of periods of adherence
to different trends, it’s a reminder of the relative brevity of our own existence. If these billboards all stopped being updated
in an apocalyptic or dystopian scenario then eventually all of them would naturally evolve into Made X Forever style displays.
I’m using my creative skills to showcase these boards of the future, while examining the close ties of art and advertising.
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