Seeing Mark Gonzalez shred the Lower East Side is like having an encounter with Sasquatch, except way cooler, way gnarlier, and way styliner. You want to stop whatever you're doing, take out your camera, and scream "SSSTTOOOOP THE PRESSSSESSS!!" before he leaves your sight, because it always happens really fast. Lucky for us, Peter Sutherland shot a series of photos with the Gonz for our new photo issue, so you can look at Mark all the time.VICE: What was your first NYC experience?
Peter: I got some food from that deli on 7th and A in the East Village. The people who worked there always watched you really closely, because they thought everyone was stealing from them. Then I went to Tompkins Square Park and sat on a bench to eat. A pack of squatter kids were in the park, and one of them had trained his dog to fetch pigeons and bring them back to him. I don't know if they were eating the pigeons, but it was definitely punk and definitely gross.
I have a soft spot for all kind of crusties, but the ones indigenous to Tompkins are definitely pretty gross. What was your first Gonz experience?
I was aware of the Gonz as a small child. His pro model was a rendering of his face that sort of looked like the old Trapper Keeper graphics. I guess the first time I saw him was around 2004. There was a banked plywood wall on Houston and 1st Ave. and he would wall ride it on his bike. I guess it was "The Gonz Wall."What's your fav T-shirt?
I have one from a liquor store in Colorado called "Even in the End." I like all the different ways you can interpret the meaning of that phrase.
How about your favorite outfit that Mark wears?
That would be soccer shorts with a button-up shirt and cardigan sweater. He looks like two different people with that outfit.Do you own any of Gonz's work? If so, what's your favorite piece?
I own two drawings and a bunch of his books. I think my favorite piece is a weird quilt he had hanging in a show at Alleged a long time ago.
Fitzcarraldo or Burden of Dreams?
Burden of Dreams. Especially Herzog's final interview where he says we are all just "cows in a field" if we don't express ourselves creatively.Leo Romero or Dylan Rieder?
Leo. Everyone is man-crushing on Dylan too hard [laughs].Favorite part in Gnar Gnar?
I like the whole thing. I like the creative vibe in that video. It's sort of the opposite of most current videos where the guys are risking everything to make the most dangerous and difficult part possible. Gnar Gnar gives you a sense of how those guys skate when they want to have fun and skate for themselves.What's the most valuable book in your library?
I think the book I look at the most is A Shimmer of Possibility, by Paul Graham.
Still House just found a permanent studio space, can you tell me what the haps is with your residency there?
Oh yeah, this is really cool. The Still House Group is an artist collective based here in NYC. I originally became friends with Jack Greer, who I think you introduced me to. Anyway, there are about eight to ten artists in the group and they just got a huge space in Red Hook called the Still House Studio. They keep one area in the Studio open for guest artists, and I told the guys I would be interested in working there for the summer. It's been killer. I like the vibe those guys have going, and we will show our work in September. They have a barbecue area on the roof where we have chill barbecues. Thanks so much to those guys, I really like working over there.OK, smell ya later.MAGGIE LEEhttp://www.petersutherland.net/
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Peter: I got some food from that deli on 7th and A in the East Village. The people who worked there always watched you really closely, because they thought everyone was stealing from them. Then I went to Tompkins Square Park and sat on a bench to eat. A pack of squatter kids were in the park, and one of them had trained his dog to fetch pigeons and bring them back to him. I don't know if they were eating the pigeons, but it was definitely punk and definitely gross.
I was aware of the Gonz as a small child. His pro model was a rendering of his face that sort of looked like the old Trapper Keeper graphics. I guess the first time I saw him was around 2004. There was a banked plywood wall on Houston and 1st Ave. and he would wall ride it on his bike. I guess it was "The Gonz Wall."What's your fav T-shirt?
I have one from a liquor store in Colorado called "Even in the End." I like all the different ways you can interpret the meaning of that phrase.
That would be soccer shorts with a button-up shirt and cardigan sweater. He looks like two different people with that outfit.Do you own any of Gonz's work? If so, what's your favorite piece?
I own two drawings and a bunch of his books. I think my favorite piece is a weird quilt he had hanging in a show at Alleged a long time ago.
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Burden of Dreams. Especially Herzog's final interview where he says we are all just "cows in a field" if we don't express ourselves creatively.Leo Romero or Dylan Rieder?
Leo. Everyone is man-crushing on Dylan too hard [laughs].Favorite part in Gnar Gnar?
I like the whole thing. I like the creative vibe in that video. It's sort of the opposite of most current videos where the guys are risking everything to make the most dangerous and difficult part possible. Gnar Gnar gives you a sense of how those guys skate when they want to have fun and skate for themselves.What's the most valuable book in your library?
I think the book I look at the most is A Shimmer of Possibility, by Paul Graham.
Oh yeah, this is really cool. The Still House Group is an artist collective based here in NYC. I originally became friends with Jack Greer, who I think you introduced me to. Anyway, there are about eight to ten artists in the group and they just got a huge space in Red Hook called the Still House Studio. They keep one area in the Studio open for guest artists, and I told the guys I would be interested in working there for the summer. It's been killer. I like the vibe those guys have going, and we will show our work in September. They have a barbecue area on the roof where we have chill barbecues. Thanks so much to those guys, I really like working over there.OK, smell ya later.MAGGIE LEEhttp://www.petersutherland.net/