256 pages Edited by Dave the Chimp Designed by Mickey G 28,9 x 21 cm Language: English Paperback Publisher: Laurence King Publishing 2010
Assembled in Berlin by Dave the Chimp — London-born writer and illustrator, longtime graphics man for Hessenmob Skateboards — this is a colouring book that takes its own premise seriously. Over seventy-five street and graffiti artists were each given a spread and one instruction: leave it unfinished. Blank walls waiting for a tag, half-drawn characters, empty frames. The reader is not colouring in; the reader is finishing the work.
The line-up is a snapshot of the late-2000s international scene: 123Klan, Alëxone Dizac, Poch and JACE for France, Boris Hoppek, Flying Fortress, C100 and The Walters for Germany, The London Police, Bfree, Botlek and Wayne Horse from Holland, BO130, Microbo and Galo from Italy, Eltono, Pez, Zosen and TV Boy from Spain, Ekta from Sweden, Zbiok from Poland, Buff Monster, Brad Downey and APAK from the US, Yok and Dscreet from Australia, Ichi Bunny and Yu Sato from Japan, plus Eelus, Cept, 45RPM, Pinky and Zeel from the UK. Dave the Chimp opens the book addressing children directly, and the whole thing holds together as an artefact of a moment when that scene still talked to everyone at once.
