{"id":138,"date":"2021-10-01T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T23:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/?p=138"},"modified":"2026-06-29T17:06:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T17:06:56","slug":"ned-9e-ceoncept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/ned-9e-ceoncept\/","title":{"rendered":"Ned (9th Concept)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NED \u2013 BRINGING ENERGIES TOGETHER UNDER A SINGLE EMBLEM<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COURSE & 9<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> CONCEPT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you become an artist? When did you start out busking?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started very early in the streets, at thirteen or fourteen, with St\u00e9phane Carricondo, doing graffiti. I lived in the 78 (Yvelines department) and was quite well-known as Atom the Spy, because in the 80s I spray-painted the entire line between Rambouillet and Paris. When I started at a graphic design school in Paris, we met Jerk and we became more into traditional painting. I always wanted to work outdoors, but at first we were less inclined to do so, because we didn't know the city very well yet. It was in the early 90s that we returned to the streets by founding the 9 (a collective).th<\/sup> Concept and by starting to put up stickers (nearly four thousand five hundred). At the time there were only two stickers in the subway: our yellow one and the white one of a rock group called The Naked Apes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tribal line that inspires you refers to the word "tribe" and the idea of community. How important is the collective in your journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

St\u00e9phane Carricondo and I were only kids; we needed friends. Jerk came along, then other crew members joined us. Brands started calling us and giving us budgets because they were looking for a different way to communicate, especially alcohol companies in the nightlife scene. Thanks to temporary tattoos, we were able to launch a new generation of graphic designers because we needed help with our tours across France. These combined talents allowed the collective to grow significantly. Today, these young artists are better known than the original members because they built their careers much faster. It's a great source of pride to have been able to give them a springboard, and now we're focusing on our own careers. We're like beginners, but with the background of a collective that is undoubtedly one of the oldest in France, if not the world, in the field of urban art! However, we mustn't rest on our laurels, and each individual must be able to express themselves so that it benefits the entire group. Thus, cross-functional initiatives have multiplied, whether it's the tattoo parlors of Jeykill and Veenom, or Le Terrier, founded by Olivia de Bona, Th\u00e9o Lopez, and Matthieu Dagorn. Today, they are all very independent, but we try to get together to work on projects from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 9th<\/strong>th<\/sup><\/strong> concept is an "open" collective, with few fixed members.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we arrived in the 90s, established collectives like the Ripoulin Brothers or the Smoking Muslims had either already broken up or had disbanded. Like musical groups, they had merged along a single path; conversely, we sought to develop each member's unique style within a shared medium. This is why we created exhibitions like "Sang9," "Labyrinth," and "Scratch Paper." It's important to highlight this diversity and to focus on the individual. The three of us already had very strong styles, and we wanted to cultivate them together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FROM THE LINE TO THE COAT OF ARMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your work has gradually shifted towards abstraction through a transformation of the line.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I immediately adopted a tribal style of writing: I'm Breton on my father's side, and on my mother's side, my grandfather was a blacksmith, close to the journeymen's guild. This style comes from that Celtic heritage, from a whole bunch of books I read on the subject, before developing it in Australia and elsewhere. It's a reflection of myself at a certain point in time. It was later reinvented in the temporary tattoos of the 9thth<\/sup> The concept, conveying the strength and energy of a lifeline on the skin or clothing it marks. It also stems from my love of comics, of which I am an avid collector, because ink is the source of all drawing. This is also why I started with figurative art, creating a great many faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This abstraction arises from a dismemberment of figurative elements.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began by deconstructing faces with coffee, playing with the effects of layering, stains, and drips. I then started with just the eyes, before gradually assembling various symbols in the form of medallions, constructed like puzzles capable of transmitting energy to the public. For the Cicero wall in the 12th arrondissement, I wanted it to incorporate elements belonging to the neighborhood, blending medieval patterns, plants, and motifs found in churches. Together, they form these mandorlas charged with the energy needed to convey the atmosphere or soul of a neighborhood. The wall thus takes on a human dimension that allows residents to connect with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your medallion is like an empty shell that you fill with motifs, transforming it into a true talisman. Does each of these arrangements have a particular meaning?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's an empty cocoon. So, each time, I start with an overall structure and fill it with a multitude of elements. Over time, I've developed an alphabet composed of flames, circles, arabesques, and tribal patterns. For the storefront of a restaurant in Montreuil, I added several elements like wild plants, fish scales, and deer antlers. The rays then serve to diffuse the energy. This imbues the created piece with a charge and allows emotion to emerge. It's an incantation with a key that allows the person who looks at it or adopts it to connect with what it represents. It's still embryonic, but I'm beginning to see where I'm headed: a work that can be replicated socially in all cities and regions, because every community has an origin, roots, and values, and it's wonderful to be able to express that symbolically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working with icons and gold plays on a sacred\/profane relationship, a dimension already explored in your previous works.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heraldry is opaque, following very precise rules and historically reserved for the nobility. I seek to renew it in a more modern style by desacralizing its sacred character while retaining the medieval symbols of gilding, the best medium for conveying energy, and the mandorla. In a neighborhood, the idea is to ask people about their totem animal, their favorite plant, or building, in order to create a medallion in which everyone can find themselves. These creations thus allow people to assert their identity by displaying it in a layered way through a graphic symbol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE CITY HAS SEVERAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sticker, by virtue of its accessibility, implies a particular relationship with the city.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the 9th<\/sup> The concept behind our actions has always been that they are free. What we earned working with brands has allowed us to sustain the collective by reinvesting it in exhibitions. We maintain this idea of collecting, of Panini stickers: if people wanted Sang9 bandages during our action, we gave them some. We even saw students with stickers. Our goal, through this distribution, was to allow people to take ownership of these small pieces of street art. With the Francs Colleurs (Free Collers), we have further expanded this family, extending it to networks of friends, to bring art to the street, to share among artists, and to offer something other than an image constantly reproduced through these modules that are assembled like fish scales. This idea of sharing, present since our beginnings, is, however, very much at odds with the way society functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the relationship between the sticker and illegality?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started putting up stickers in the street in broad daylight (like the first Sang9 posters), while people watched us, looking for run-down places we could beautify. Whether it was legal or not was never a priority. In fact, when sharing is the key, everything becomes simpler. We even gave stickers to police officers! Our latest action took place during the day in rough neighborhoods of Paris like Les Halles and the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es, around the Arc de Triomphe by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. No one said anything to us because it seemed perfectly natural, even though we're still wary of the Paris city officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does the stencil induce a different relationship to time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the walls I've painted are legal. When you work in the city, you're in direct contact with the local people. An interaction naturally arises: they'll like it, dislike it, ask questions. This creates a genuine social connection, and a bridge can be built, like when I painted in the 18th arrondissement around the Secours Populaire (a French charity). There was a social icon with a somewhat battered face, crying, but I restored its dignity to give energy back to people who had lost it. A conversation ensued, with people asking me what it was all about. This connection is what's important. In such a context, however, you have to stay focused on your work so as not to lose yourself in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is the important thing that it be done in the street regardless of any question of duration?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The few walls I painted lasted a long time. But from the moment you place a creation in the street, it becomes bound to it, whether it's removed within the hour, the next day, or lasts two or three years. That's the principle of life itself: appearance and disappearance. During our trip to India, we saw artists creating mandalas that were burned two hours later. The energy is then distilled in a different way, shorter and more intense, because it's the initial intention that evaporates and is redistributed in what surrounds it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ON URBAN ART<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you consider urban art to be an artistic movement? If so, do you consider yourself part of it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my opinion, this is undoubtedly one of the greatest movements of the last few centuries. Free Figuration and Narrative Figuration contained the seeds of all the ingredients of Urban Art, except the most essential one. An artist like Peter Klasen had access to torn posters, stencils, and stickers, but, to my knowledge, he never actually used them in the street. This movement carries many labels because a multitude of practices are associated with it, from posters to collages, from spray paint to stencils, after having drawn its essence from Graffiti. It's also a movement that emerged thanks to the internet. Before, to see a work of art, you had to see it in person, whereas now everyone can discover it online. This encourages people to create and to connect with others in the street, which is fantastic, even if they sometimes too quickly consider themselves urban artists. Urban art, in this sense, serves as a social showcase, for people who don't naturally gravitate towards galleries or museums: there's always a barrier to making the effort to engage with art. A stencil outside your door intrigues, whether it's beautiful or a failure. It's a reflection of life, a mirror of our society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can we recognize the value of an urban artwork?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We're reaching such saturation in the cities that I think a weeding-out process is necessary. With the 9th<\/sup> Conceptually, we've developed a body of work around line and writing, which explains our greater sensitivity to a certain aesthetic. Sometimes, in the street, I wonder what certain things contribute, whether they advance the narrative. Conversely, an artist like Lor-K has grasped this perfectly: she takes objects from the street, transforms them there, and then re-presents them. In this way, the circle is complete. But few artists think this way, even though many areas remain to be explored, evolving alongside society. In our image-driven society, the street has gone from being underutilized to a showcase that is sometimes overused. Yet, I find it interesting to be able to pause and consider a still image placed on a wall, and the street has allowed talents to emerge who would never have dared to express themselves otherwise.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NED \u2013 REGROUPER LES \u00c9NERGIES SOUS UN M\u00caME EMBL\u00c8ME PARCOURS & 9\u00e8me CONCEPT Comment es-tu devenu artiste ? Quand as-tu commenc\u00e9 dans la rue ? J\u2019ai commenc\u00e9 tr\u00e8s t\u00f4t dans la rue, \u00e0 treize ou quatorze ans avec St\u00e9phane Carricondo, en taguant. J\u2019habitais dans le 78 et \u00e9tais assez connu sous le nom d\u2019Atom the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[29,8,28,7],"class_list":["post-138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-atelier","tag-collage","tag-ephemere","tag-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions\/292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qgdesartistes.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}