From Zero to Hero – BOND TRULUV on finding his own ways
Who used his own book as a spatula to complete a piece? Who paints murals with rebuilt and adjusted Ballpoint pens? Yes, you guessed right, it’s BOND TRULUV. We had the chance to talk with none other than the Gyro Gearloose of graffiti himself. Over a cup of coffee, we discussed the role of social media, painting techniques, inventions, and the balance between preparation and spontaneity. This interview was conducted on the occasion of the 29th Montana BLACK artist edition, for which BOND TRULUV created the design and chose the color Neptune.
Montana Cans: Hey, nice to meet you! To start the conversation, please introduce yourself and tell us about your journey of inventions.
Bond: Hey, I am Bond Truluv, that’s my alias, and I have been painting for more than 20 years now. You could still describe my work as graffiti; it contains letters, but I play around a lot with arrangements and techniques. At some point, I began looking for technical add-ons for my designs. I took long-exposure photographs, also known as light painting, of my graffiti pictures. I started to put video mappings over my walls and created augmented reality animations for my murals to bring these static walls to life, so to speak.
Montana Cans: Interesting, so early on, you already tried to enhance your works, but more on the outcome side of things? What inspired you to start working with DIY tools and inventions?
Bond: I love to experiment! And I really enjoy building small spray devices that create specific spray effects, which can be used to paint crazy things that have never been painted before. I’ve built about 70 of them so far, and some of them are actually handy tools, while others are just gimmicks and entertaining nonsense. Bringing an idea to life and satisfying that playful element. What would happen if I put a spray can on this robot vacuum cleaner or took a leaf blower with three ultra-wide nozzles attached, and then used a cordless drill with an extension to spray virtually perfect circles? I tried a number of things that had never happened before, I would say.
“I love to experiment!” – Bond Truluv
Montana Cans: When you experiment so much, sometimes there must be failures. How do you deal with that?
Bond: I admire those who experiment in some way and also dare to fail, to not be successful in what they do. Not to get the feedback they are used to. And that’s what makes it exciting. I found art at school incredibly boring. I was always a zero in art. Museums didn’t interest me at all, but graffiti sparked my creativity. And so I had a very classic career path, painting with a few friends at night. I placed a lot of importance on creating beautiful, sophisticated, or detailed pictures, rather than flashy spots. And I actually continued doing that, and it always gave me a lot. It still gives me as much as it did on the first day.
Montana Cans: When you want to realize an idea, can you predict the result? Do you plan and prepare a lot?
Bond: I find this element of unpredictability to be the most exciting thing about graffiti. You never really know where you’ll end up, what the spot will look like, what the conditions will be like. What colors will be available to me? Or even going out with no plan at all and painting whatever you feel like painting at the moment, and not being satisfied with the result in the end, but having allowed yourself to have the adventure? That’s a massive part of why I love painting, and that’s just one side of it. However, the other side features meticulously planned, organized, and structured canvases, murals, and designs, which are also created on the computer using 3D software. I sometimes spend 15 to 20 drafts on the computer. In two or three days, I’ll have a draft that I can say, “Yes, I can paint that.” Until I have found an arrangement and a color scheme that suits the reflections, the designs are also based on the surroundings. In other words, they interact with the architecture, with the geometry of the location, with the lighting conditions. And only when I finally have found a design that I feel suitable, I start painting it in full size and detail.
Montana Cans: How do you perceive social media, especially for your own work?
Bond: Unfortunately, social media has become very important in recent years. I thought to myself that social media is essentially a fame game. You can either paint a crazy spot and get famous for it, or you can reach an international audience via social media and get famous that way. There are certain similarities to graffiti when it comes to getting up and gaining recognition. It’s a different vehicle, if you will, and social media… I actually get most of my jobs through social media. So it pays the bills. I´m quite averse towards the mechanisms of social media but to be honest; it has become convenient. On the other hand, it also connects people. You see things that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. When you travel and connect with people, you find contacts relatively quickly in every country. So it’s a double-edged sword. I’m in the luxurious position of having found a way to deal with it; it’s a necessary evil.
Montana Cans: So, another topic, how was working with us? Haha, I know this is a weird question.
Bond: For my Montana Black Artist Edition, I came up with something really special. The can is augmented reality animated, which means you can open a website using a QR code on the can. Scan it, and then everything starts to move. I chose the color Neptune. It has enough contrast. Nice and dark. You can use it really well for outlines. It’s very versatile. It’s a huge honor, of course, to have the opportunity to put a design on a can like this. Especially Montana Cans. I have to admit, I’ve been a Montana fanboy for a long time… For me, it’s simply the most suitable can. It has been for decades!
Montana Cans: Alright, thanks for your time and these insights! It was a pleasure to work with you, and we are keen to see what you are up to in the future!
Bond: Pleasure’s on my side, thank you so much!