Time Traveller and Street Artist!

“I’m just an average, ordinary, everyday, guy from the year 2063. I’m here to interact with the people of this time and to make interactive art to explore concepts Around contemporary life and evolution.”

After arriving here from the year 2063, Bados’ Teleport Pod was apparently stolen, leaving the traveller stuck here in our time. Given this unfortunate turn of events, he now plans to observe and, where needed, intervene in order to maintain his utopian futures existence.

Bados Earthling is primarily a Street Artist, incorporating performance graffiti and theatre into his unusual and thought provoking shows, which can include live aspects as well as audience participation.

A ‘practicing perceptual artist’ Bados believes his purpose is to help birth an art movement here in the 21st century, in order to aid humans in altering their perceptions of the world, and of reality as a whole, through the means of art. Teleporting onto the scene since 2010, Bados has been doing his bit for the future and has had quiet the success and the predictable up stir of media curiosity.

From his team ups with Nick Ilton on “Merry Street Art” and “Come on Aussie Come on”, to the Melbourne Sweet Streets Festival and The Adelaide Fringe/Street Dreams, Bados is seems to be everywhere lately, spreading his unique, intriguing, ‘bit o’ fun’ Live performances and works.

Please give a well evolved 2011 welcome to Bados Earthling, who will be bringing us some pretty crazy cool excitement via his upcoming show next week “Forgive us & Bados Easter Hunt” happening 23rd April (Easter Saturday) and located around the Melbourne CBD street art alley ways!

So you arrived here from 2063? Tell us, what would you say are the most defining characteristics of your ‘Utopian future’, both within art and society in general?

Who said I’m from a ‘Utopian future’? This is the turning point for a potential future that is like The Nightmare on Street Art Lane. There are  artists as hero in the future. In your time you glorify the artists across all disciplines.  You need heroes to look up to, in the future everyone is their own hero, everyone’s important.  The audience member isn’t simply a cultural observer but more of a cultural participant.

Art is not simply something you explore through your senses, it is something you are – it makes up every cell in your body, mind & soul.

What is the message you bring and what do you think we,  the people living in the present, can to contribute to this?

I don’t have a message; I ask the questions and I think everybody carries the answer already within themselves. I want to make people think and question things. That’s what art is about for me. You see, I’m the outsider looking into your world. I’m like a child seeing something for the first time, with a million questions.

Being that you are from the future Earth, how have you found the reaction from the public here, in this time, to yourself, your concepts and your shows?

‘Are you for real?’ – I get that a lot, but after a first laugh, most people come closer and get interested. In the best circumstances somebody comes around, draws his or her input on a speech bubble for a photo and it blows me away, because they come up with some fantastic reactions, where I think ‘Is this for real? That was just great!’.

Is there a specific reason behind combining, rather than keeping separate, the interactive and theatre aspects of your art in a show? or is it simply for the sake of livening up your experience when performing?

The reactions of my audience keeps the flow up, and livens a performance – when there’s no one around showing any interest in what I’m doing, nothing significant will evolve – fortunately this has never happened so far…

There are aspects of Dadaism, Theatre, Pop Art etc in what I’m doing, a lot of dada and pop artists did performance stuff. They called them “happenings”. Instead of inviting the public to a gallery, they’d have them participate in these “happenings”.

I like the street art philosophy of taking it to the people – my performance works best in an open environment; ie the city, so maybe you could call it Street Art or Street Performance – or, as I call it, “performance graffiti”!

Do you find that introducing performance/theatre styles into your shows is more palatable form of producing street art? for the viewer I mean. Is it easier to bring the message or purpose of the show across this way?

The viewer can give me a straight feedback and give influence in what direction the performance goes. I can’t do that so effectively with a painting in a gallery or a piece on a wall. On the other hand, my performances are temporary for the moment and don’t exist for a long time – so it is the most ephemeral of all street art, I guess.

In some of your shows you seem to be turning art around on the audience, bringing them into the art itself, via methods of the ‘speech bubbles’ etc – do you find there is more truthful a result in the art when you give power to the viewer?

I am trying to bridge the gap between the gallery aspect of art and the audience on the street. Everybody has an interest in what he sees, and you can’t block out all the advertisements that bombard you and so some good people try to make the streets look nicer. It’s not all visual, our senses are much more polluted these days. After all, you don’t have to buy a ticket to the theatre to see a good show. It’s all out there, and I try to capture some of those great moments.

Did you have a background in performance art or theatre before you began to venture into the realms of Street Art, or is this simply something that has evolved along with your progression as an artist?

Life is a performance.

We take on different roles when we are around different people or situations. This is me. I am Bados. I am an Earthling – who is just an average ordinary everyday person … from the year 2063.

Your upcoming show “Forgive Us & Bados Easter Hunt” will have you all over Melbourne CBD Lane-ways. – can you give us a low down on the concept behind the show and maybe a little hint of what to expect? 

I’m trying to come to terms with the bizarre traditions of Easter. The pope, sinners, the renaissance, speech bubbles,  chocolate coloured Bados’. All this will be part of the performance. As I first sent out invitations via Facebook for my Easter happening involving the ‘mobile confession booth’, I was stunned that Father Bob was in all the media a week later promoting this kind of confession booth for Easter. He’s my friend on Facebook!! He got the invite, as did all my friends. He made it an April fools day joke, but I’m determined to do it for real….

Finally and simply what is next for Bados Earthling? More live performance graffiti, collaborations with other artists or A Nation wide search campaign for that elusive I Teleport Pod!?

A:  What’s next for me, world domination! lol. As for the I Teleport it is missing in action, last reports was that it was for sale on Ebay.

For all the latest on Bados Earthlings eccentric, yet educational adventures, check out his awesome website and the Facebook page for his upcoming Easter event!