Catching up with Crim City Collective

By Benjamin Davis Brockman

For The Fiddleback

One of the more exciting thing that I see happening in art these days, is that artists are grouping around a similar aesthetic goal into something like a band.  Such is the case with Crim City, a recent West Coast transplant hailing from the Midwest.  Citing process rather than product as their key driving factor, these three fellows operate a little like an experimental noise band working in impulsive, fast-paced multimedia installations.  

From their aesthetic philosophy: "We create work that explores the idea of major action, instant information, free association, and the first thing that pops into your head minus bitter after taste of self doubt and judgment."  From the standpoint of these intentions, Crim City operate a little like low brow trash warriors, attacking physical spaces like action painters armed with resourceful wit and an arsenal of characters and motifs.  The result resembles the glamorous wreckage of Francis Bacon's studio at 7 Reece Mews transplanted left to the design devices of Gary Panter.  Their cite-specific installations marry the renegade spirit of street art with the polish of the sacred gallery space, and though they maintain that there is no narrative driving their endeavors - it is easy to derive a subtle mythology running throughout the cosmos they continuously forge. 

BDB: Can you talk a little bit about how Crim City collective formed? What does the name of the group mean to you?

CC: The cradle of crimilization. The beginning. 2006. We started painting collaboratively in Will's Mom's basement during breaks when we were both back in Minneapolis from college. Mostly making big goopy illustrative piles on paper. We both returned to Minneapolis in 2007 and moved into studio space at The Soap Factory in 2008. We started transitioning our two-dimensional process to three-dimensional work over two years and began showing in 2010 as Crim City Collective. "Crim" is the designate verb for our process. When we work, it's crim.

BDB: What is the place of the gallery in what Crim City does? Is it necessary or is it a convention that you try to break free of?

CC: Our goal is to always make new work in reaction to a given set of conditions. Installing our three-dimensional pieces is always a direct reaction to a space - gallery or otherwise. The correlative flux between time, available materials, extraneous collaborators, beer, and food create a constantly shifting slurry of ideation that determines the shape and direction of each install. Galleries are nice because they have walls that we can attach structures too. Galleries also usually have coordinators or curators that are good at finding materials and cool people. And free beer. That being said, we don't really need walls to make free-standing shit, we both have some cool friends already, and there is beer in the fridge right now. So… I guess we're a gallery? Contact us if you'd like a show in our backyard.

BDB: How do you guys work together?  Are there predetermined roles, or roles that you fall into based on different areas of expertise/interests? 

CC: We work together with tools and wood and paint and paper. Everyone does everything all the time. Our process relies heavily on making friends with new people and inviting them to come work with us. As far as predetermined roles, Ross cooks most of the chili, Will has a smart phone and PJ is the cute one.

BDB: What is the dream of the Crim City Collective?  What are your ultimate aspirations?

CC: We want to start a residency program in our backyard where you come to our house and camp out in a tent and we facilitate you making a giant whatever-the-fuck-you-want, and we grill out every night and have bonfires and beers and then cook giant dank breakfasts in the morning and when you complete your project we help you put it out someplace public so everyone can check out how badassss it turned out. We also want to put together an M.C.V. - or Mobile Crim Vehicle - so we can take this shit all the way from the top to the bottom. So if you're reading this and have an extra box-truck, let us haddat.

BDB: Can you talk a bit about the symbols/characters and if there are specific meanings (i.e.: King Ghost)?

There is "Kind", "Type", and "Class". Did you ever play Warhammer 40K? It's kind of like that but without a manual. Or Dice.

Crim City Collective is Will Grant, Ross Yates, and PJ Maracle, operating out of Oakland, CA.

Check out their website, facebook and tumblr for more info, and to find out how to get a Crim install in your backyard.  Maybe.