Fire and ice

Its 2022 and I roam the corridors of the notorious RKZ with my friend. RKZ is his home, an auto organised living quarter, an old hospital complex in the Helpman area that was squatted in 1979. Its hallways are filled with paintings and art pieces along with the residents belongings. A calm hospital aesthetic blends with punk. Lists of tags can be found in toilets, on doors, hatches and walls. RKZ is a time capsule and a guestbook for street anthropologists. As we walk along I notice a painting that sticks out of the general diversity of murals and scribblings. There stands a piece by Quik, a spray paint avantguardista from New York that spent time in Groningen in the 1990’s. The painting is dated 1995 and reads MRTN. The transience of a graffiti painting is written on its DNA; a painted wall calls for being painted over again. The fact that this painting stood here for 27 years makes an impact in itself. Only by resisting urban nature will a graffiti piece live a long life.

Its now August 2024 and a nostalgic wave has invaded Northern Netherlands. A resurrection of Quik in the Netherlands, his return to Grunn, has been organised for September 2024. It seems reasonable to document and save the existence of the now 29 year old Quik mural in RKZ. For this purpose I have arranged an interview with Martien, an older generation resident of RKZ and an accomplice of Quik.

Introduction of Martien Zwiers

Living in RKZ since 1980. Has his residence and atelier in the attic of RKZ. Worked in Grand Theatre as a screen printer, and also designed and printed posters for Oude keukens disco evenings. Works as a building inspector in RKZ. Contributed to free art gallery idea (art gallery in RKZ) and keeps working on his own contemporary art practice.

Linwood “Quik” Felton had found his way to Groningen from Amsterdam. Museum and gallery appearances made way to a longer stay in Europe, that was kept going by working at Grand Theatre and Martien’s workshop. Quik’s background is in hiphop and New York and Martien’s background was in punk and new wave in Groningen. That fit together. “There wasn’t a lot of money going on in those days so you had to, you know, find other ways. Printing is also expensive, but you have to do that. And Grand theatre had a way of financing that. (…) I more or less work for free and Quik worked more or less for free. Thats how it was done in the 80s and 90s”. Quik and Martien shared a friendship. When asked about the painting on the RKZ corridor, more precisely on Martien’s residences front door, he resumes; “Quik was used to getting people to do things for him, and he did things for them.” The door mural was painted with acceptance from the community of RKZ. An Afro American New Yorker painting in the white RKZ community was unusual. The thematic of the mural reflected from Martien’s character and desire. Ice cubes and fire combines to a paradox. Martien’s art and print practice praises the impossible combinations. A doll character in the painting is of Quik’s signature practice. The letters MRTN is an pseudonym of Martien. The long lasting graffiti painting of fire and ice is a token of intercontinental recognition.

Spending time in Grand Theatre, Quik ended up working with a cutting edge new theatre performance chronicle, ZAPPsnacks, that was created and directed by Andre Pronk and Sjoerd Wagenaar. ZAPPsnacks is conceptual theatre that produces fast performances that aim in sensory overload. In a Volkskrant interview from 1994, Andre Pronk mentions his aim to produce a ZAP for your brain; too much information to be seen at once. Shows last from 7.5 minutes to 15 minutes and showcase combinations of different artistic fields through a number of performers, sceneries and lighting. Every ZAPPsnacks was played once. Martien printed the posters for the shows, as in that time he used to do for Grand theatre. A poster was designed by Quik. Quik performed in ZAPPsnacks 1x4=4 (the forth chapter of the first 4 shows) that was played in 1994. He performed along with Nasser Martin Gousset, MC Sherlock and DJ Lodewijk, with music by Zombi Squad. Later on a ZAPPsnacks performance took place in Groningen museum along with Quik’s artworks.