The Publics

Remember that brilliant idea you came up with but we’re too drunk, stoned and subsequently hung-over and braindead to actually get around to doing?

Well, Argentina’s Yaia, ( aka Julio Cesar Battistelli), is the dude who acts upon those impulses and follows through with those brilliant ideas, crafting a cuttingly pop-toxic design style that represents all that is still holy about “street aesthetics”.

Name, age, location, education?:

My Name is Julio Cesar Battistelli, 25 years old and for the last 13 years I have been living in Rosario, Santa Fe, but I was born in a small town in the countryside called Alvarez (4000 people, 30Km from where I live today). I started to study Graphic Design in the State School of Visual Arts, then I got a degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication from the National University of Rosario for Architecture, City Planning and Design.

For people who have never been there, What is Argentina like, what are the best things about your country/city?

I don’t know if there is a good way to answer. Everybody has something different to say about our country and the cities and the people who live in it, I think that is what defines us. We are a place of contrast. We‘re always looking for other places (real or ideal), and never notice that we should be looking around and appreciating what we have here. We have cults of friendship, indifference, excessive food exportation, 30% of our population is starving, amazing landscapes with beautiful woman and the most corrupt political class, we also have great artists, but no art scene or support. I think that’s a “nice” short description of my country, the city and the people. In Rosario it´s the same thing but on a lower scale.

There is an old local joke about how God made the world and when it was time to define the characteristics of Argentina, God picked the best of all the other countries and put them together in this land. Someone said to God, -´Sorry Dear Lord but that will be unfair for the rest of the Countries in this world´, and God replied -´Don’t worry, I’m going to make Argentinean people to live there´.

What types of media (design, art, music etc) inspire your work?

I have to say many, but music leads the army of inspiration. Of course I admire a lot of graphic artists, but music is amazing, and has been involved with graphics arts for so long that now it´s really hard to think about music without the graphic aspect (at any level). The same thing happens to me with movies and skateboarding, the graphic aspect is intrinsic to these expressions.

What is your typical day like?

I hit the alarm clock 4 to 6 times before I can finally turn it off, around 10AM I arrive at work to leave at 6PM (I work as a graphic designer and adviser for a local company). Then I walk a few blocks back to my apartment, listen to some music, draw something, upload some artwork, watch a movie, have dinner with my beloved girlfriend and back to bed to dream about paying the bills by doing my artwork all day long (some days includes variations, but this is the general plot).

What does “crime” mean to you?

In 2001 an economic debacle hit our nation. This was the end of importations, because our money got so devaluated that it was impossible for us to afford the international prices of any products (including streetwear brands). That was a hard time, there was no more imported clothing or shoes or even magazines to get. But as I told you, we are a land of contrasts and in the same place where corrupted politicians grow like grass a new era of local streetwear pioneers was rising. CRIME (Rosario), RETHINK! (BsAs) CYB (BsAs) UNDËRWORLD (Rosario) and others brands finally got the opportunity to fill an empty space left behind by the internationals brands, and hit the city stores. It was the result of desperation & need. The economic panorama started to consolidate again and CRIME became, probably, the most successful local brand, paving the way for all the new brands born in the last 7-8 years.

So where do I fit in this plot? Well, in 2001 I was starting to study design, and starting a t-shirt company was every kid’s dream (or maybe not, maybe just my dream). I started to make a small portfolio with some samples of my first pieces, I first thought of starting my own t-shirt label, but money, inexperience and lack of confidence vanished the idea. So I found a way to reach my dream in a different way and one day I visited all the new t-shirts companies to show my artwork (nobody ever would call that artwork, but well let’s move on with the story). I have to say that I was rejected in many places including CRIME. But that day I reached a person who later helped me land my work in ATYPICA studio where CRIME was one of the clients.

The relationship grew well and when I left ATYPICA to follow new paths, the people of CRIME reached me to make a collection celebrating the 10 years of the brand. The result is 12 designs and a story to tell. One more fun thing about my relationship with CRIME is that I never bought a CRIME t-shirt in my life (I have only one t-shirt and it was a gift and one hoodie that a friend lent me and I never returned) and I also never used any of the (more than) 200 designs I made for the brand.

You do a lot of design related to skateboarding, what are the most interesting aspects of skateboarding and the lifestyle of a skater?

Well I have a personal piece and a phrase in my personal artwork that goes like this “no ando en patineta” (this means: “I don’t ride a skateboard”) and it’s true. I don’t skate, well, when I was young I tried sometimes, with some friends, but it was less painful playing football so I gave up on skateboarding. And again in my life, I tried to reach by a different way something that was hard for me to do, but I liked. So I started to get involved with a part of skateboarding that is easier to reach for me with my skills, the artwork aspect. I started to accumulate information about the artist, the styles, the riders, the brands, the outfit, the lifestyle, the music, the movies, etc. All on a graphic level.

If you wish you can call me a faker, but I’m honest, I don’t skate, but it´s just a part of this amazing cultural movement that skateboarding is. There is an amazing artwork movement linked to the activity and I love it. Is an anthropology point of view for me. If you look at skateboarding only for the joy of riding a board, you are almost insulting the experience. And if somebody thinks different, it’s fine by me, I will do my artwork as I please anyways.