A Chat With nicenothings®

don't like. don't subscribe. find your own way thru it all. see you on the road.” a chat with nicenothings®

By Stick Vancouver

I first came across nicenothings® the way I’m sure many people in the city have. A small smiling face painted on the pavement, or unexpected object. To me it felt like a little joke between me and whoever put it there. Small enough that only I picked up on it, but out in the open for anyone. Over the years I kept coming across them until one day I came across the actual artist nicenothings®. I had a chance to ask a few questions about what making street art is all about. They also shared their dream of a wild installation idea that I desperately want to see one day. 

What’s the ethos of nicenothings®, what makes you want to create?

the motto is: everything ends. our lives, our accounts, our duties, all that shit that we identify with will be gone. strangely, that keeps me going. knowing that one day this entire experience that seems so important will vanish then its on to something new is a grounding view.

In a world that’s so reliant on social media, why does it matter to make art that people can interact with in the streets?

because real life is real life. and finding something outside the screen is far more rewarding imo. i survived y2k so maybe its just the way i see things.

How did you get into street art? What made you want to put your work out in public?

i found the right marker that made it easy to paint on every single surface (the krink k60 beatstreet records carries them). and the public space is where its at. theres no admission fees and there's plenty of eyes for the taking. and its surprising too. you walk into a gallery you expect art. but if you're out for groceries and you see something special in the streets you have to ask yourself if its art or not. thats a nice dialogue to spark in pedestrians.

I know you did a pop-up last year. What was it like creating a physical space and being present when people are viewing your work?

i did two. the first was on granville right across from adidas. that one went well. easy setup, clean open space. the second was better imo. i opened the doors to the dungeon, which is an old concrete-back-hallway-fire-escape that i was able to convert into a workspace. real bare bones. just an old pfaff 1245 and all my supplies. a temple of sorts. i spent months back there building everything, so being able to have people come thru there and see the realness was important. being present regardless of location is weird because i don't want to distract from the work. the bags are more important than my face. but its nice shooting the shit with the supporters. i genuinely love hearing their stories.

Your clothing, bags and screen printing are really dope. Is it more than just merch, or another dimension to showcase your work?

fuck senseless merch. theres so much of it. most of it is highly unnecessary. everything i made was an extension of me, its how i spent my time. it all evolved naturally. i made things i wanted to see in the world. those backpacks? those are something i wanted to make for years. so i taught myself to screenprint, taught myself to sew, sourced all the strongest materials and made it happen. i built everything to last so that one day it can be found in the future and still have some more life to give. i could go so heavy on what those stupid bags mean to me.

What’s next for you?

living out this life sentence in whatever way feels right. probably more smiles.

What would you like to create if you had unlimited resources?

i posted a photo of it awhile back... a giant concrete acid tab smile structure somewhere in an open field. it would have to be enormous. 3 stories high. something like that. maybe bigger. from the ground it would just look like random shapes and pillars. but from the air it would make sense. just seeing it get eaten by graff over the years would be so beautiful. having a giant tab as a landmark would be wonderful.

thanks for the questions. and the kind words. appreciate anyone who spent their minutes with this. don't like. don't subscribe. find your own way thru it all. see you on the road.