Gothic Futurism – A Tribute Evening for Rammellzee

22 October 2022 · 19:15 · VenRod

New York – 22 October 2022, 19:15. A bar in Tribeca, an old copy of Beat Bop playing in my headphones.

Letters as machines

Some interviews can never happen. Rammellzee (1960–2010) started out painting the A train from Far Rockaway, Queens, and turned graffiti letters into armed machines. He called his theory Gothic Futurism: letters freed from the rules of the alphabet and sent into battle. He rapped on the legendary record Beat Bop, appeared in the film Wild Style and built Letter Racers and heavy costumes in his Tribeca loft, the Battlestation.

So this was not research for an interview – it was a tribute. We visited an exhibition with his works and stood for a long time in front of the Letter Racers: small, strange vehicles made of letters, ready to race.

How it went

Quiet. DeeNice says that's the right way for a tribute. We also remembered that Gen Atem, whom we studied in 2018, once staged letter-sculpture battles with him in New York. Everything is connected. What we take home: letters can be more than words – they can be characters, armour, machines.

We can't ask him anything anymore. But his letters still answer. – VenRod

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