Secret Wars, Series One 30/09/06

Set in the grimy streets of Shoreditch, Secret Wars is without a doubt a diamond in the rough. Set in the midst of the typical East London nightspots (that are in such abundance), Juno Bar plays host to this artistic hub of talent. With even its own name signifying the enormity of the tournament, “The most important goddess of the Roman state, and wife of Jupiter”. Where better than to hold the event of the year than in a venue named after the Spouse of Jupiter, the Sky God, associated with thunder and lightning. It was therefore appropriate that the first battle back in August erupted on a huge scale.
The opening night back in August brought together four talented artists from across the country to compete in a split illustration War. It was a chance to see the first in a line of monthly battles, with each event eliminating the two loosing artists, whilst the other two reign victorious.

After each round, the two winners jump straight to the quarterfinals due to take place in December and then January 2007. Up until then, each month is holding another first round for the other 12 artists awaiting battle, bringing them one step closer to (among other prizes) the winners £500.

This month saw Secret Wars turn up the pressure with certainly the best battle of the series so far. As the next four artists made their way to the podium for their moment in the spotlight, the tense atmosphere was mounting.

In the firing line for Saturday the 30th of September was none other than artist Fybe, (one of the veterans of Monorex who has now joined hands with the Soopa Doopa crew in Kingston Town, London), Tech 1 a considerably new edition to Monorex, Mr Shrew all the way from Cardiff and D Bug part of the Squid Inc crew. Although Secret Wars is just a chance for artists to come together and paint with one another, reputations are certainly at stake.

First up for the night was Mr Shrew battling against D Bug. Their similar style made the task of picking a winner more difficult for the judging panel. Just like the primary battle back in August whereby Capt. Bukioe and Okkle had a similar artistic approach, the same could be said about this duo. Mr Shrew, who described his style as, “childlike illustrations” considered D Bug his biggest threat in the competition because of their comparable styles, “I think he can pull it off more than me.” The judges this month were compiled from the world of design, with one of the founders of Designers Block, Piers Roberts leading the panel alongside Michael from Hulger Ltd and finally Lee McCormack from Oculas, (who has created a “space that will merge technology, luxury, design and killer content”). They were considerably neutral judges having not really been exposed to the talents of the artists taking part.

The battles back in August saw signs of things to come. In particularly between those who ill describe as the character artists, whose style tends to sway towards cute little illustrated images akin to the artistic style of many Japanese street artists and designers. In the battle of Capt. Bukioe and Okkle, there were little digs made at each other in the artwork. This was no different from battles 3 and 4 in September where D Bug in particular took a rather clever approach creating an outright direct attack of Mr Shrew through his design. Drawn was a little rodent, being whacked by a mallet with the slogan, “Whack a Shrew coz a Shrew is Wack”. There is no doubt as the tournament progresses into the later stages these attacks will become a far more prominent feature in the artists work.

At the end of the battle, the judges voted Mr Shrew the winner, having just managed to finish the piece before the stopwatch signalled for Pens down. His winning piece consisted of a Martian character, with rather interesting hands, one shaped like an acorn, surrounded by a fine outline detail. D bug therefore was the first casualty of the night, who left shortly afterwards.

With the first contestant eliminated it was time for the second battle of the night to commence. This was undoubtedly a battle on a grander scale with the big guns, Fybe and Tech 1 taking part. Their style, much like the duo in the earlier battle can also be described as similar. Fybe had this to say about his work, “I don’t like to stick to a certain style, I kind of like get sick of what I did last week. I suppose you could say robotic.” There was still time for jokes as Tech 1 – who had flown back a day early from his holiday just to prepare for the battle – described the approach to his work as, “Tech’s style”. When asked if he had a game plan, Tech 1 replied, “If I make it through to the quarter finals after tonight, I will try and do something different. I want to take people by surprise”. Certainly this was true for Tech’s first attempt in the tournament with a new inventive introduction of materials used. Along with the Edding pens supplied for the tournament, Tech 1 found a loophole and brought his own black paint, thus switching up the whole format of the battle. Instead of the traditional black on white background, Tech painted over the emulsion white walls, with Black acrylic paint, leaving white spaces where his artwork would miraculously appear as he filled in the spaces with the black.

With quite an ambitious battle ahead of him Tech certainly had a long way to go. Artist Fybe on the other hand got off to a great start, with a sketch in hand. The audience were immediately able to see the artistic talent of the piece. Focusing on the theme of hands, Fybe designed a machine with a protruding hand holding a pen. From the outset the intricate design looked like the definite winner. However nothing can be determined in Secret Wars until the end of the designated battle time. That is the joy of the tournament as it can be right up until the last minute that the other opponent storms through for victory. When asked who he would most like to win the tournament Fybe replied, “Alphamale, not Inkfetish coz he is a cocky b@$*£&d!”

With a finished piece like something out of Power Rangers, with a giant robot stomping over a city scene, Tech 1 was the artist who eventually took the vote. Covered in paint, Tech was actually on his way back from the toilet when the votes were cast. He won with two votes against one. Cheers of shock and congratulation went up around Juno bar as it was made aware that one of the biggest artists in the tournament, Fybe would be the next casualty of Secret wars. It was almost a shame that either of the two artists had to be eliminated so early on as both are incredibly talented.

While a pimp party got underway downstairs and the music played on into the night, talk moved to the next line up of artists battling on October the 28th. The night is set to be the largest yet as artists Sickboy, Wen, Alfamale and Inkfetish go head to head. The winners of this round will face each other in the quarterfinals. Whoever the next judging panel are, they certainly have a tough job on their hands. Why not come and check out what all the fuss is about at one of the future events or just log on to www.secretwars.co.uk for more details on the next battles or just to catch up on the memories from the previous four clashes.