BERST
By Leilani Momoisea
GBAK’s monstrous roller piece, 90 metres of pipeline sitting atop the ocean almost completely covered in paint, is a thing of legend – and not just in New Zealand’s graffiti circles. University students and office workers alike buzzed about it for a minute as pictures of the seemingly impossible were circulated between friends, hip hop chat forums and beyond.
Berst is one of GBAK’s integral members, and when explaining exactly what went into making that piece happen, you can tell those same principles still apply to his painting today. It’s what makes his work now, and what made that piece in 2005, stand out from the pack: backbreaking hard work, a dogged desire to push the boundaries and a certain flamboyancy – an over-the-top type steez. Berst is the dude you can’t box in, just when he’s mastered one thing, he’ll swiftly move on to the next, quickly bored with sameness, conformity and the status quo.
Immigrating to New Zealand from Hong Kong at the age of three meant being in the minority from the off. Standing out has been a running theme for Berst long before graffiti made its way into his life. He’s also had to balance the complexity of different cultural expectations made even more difficult by the love for an art form unaccepted by mainstream society. Ultimately this is just another factor that strengthens his will to succeed as he explains: “The driving force is definitely doing stuff that nobody before has done, taking it in a different direction. Because I’m Chinese, and we’re in New Zealand, not many people are doing what we’re doing. These are my primary goals or aspirations, that really make me want to push graffiti and take it somewhere it’s not gotten to.”
The FULL interview with BERST appears in issue 55 of Graphoism magazine - click here to purchase your copy www.graphotism.com/Subscribe-Graphotism-or-MyNameIs-Magazine.74.0.html
