"The Wa" said one day with a look of anger in his eyes, "The French once ignored the sex lives of their leaders. Carla Bruni, is now front page news!" The Wa is a low-life bastard, urban hacker from the Basque
countryside who swears he has never been involved in ETA terror. He currently resides in Berlin and spends his days saving up for that big trip to lonely planet North Korea where he plans to paint a huge "FUCK BUSH"
mural before its too late.

Chief Magazine: Where are you from?

The Wa: Everybody wants to fuck my country's first lady and my president was elected the sexiest politician by a journalist from CNN. That’s all I know about where I am from!!!

OK, so I guess you are saying you are from France, as the only first lady I would want  to lay with is Carla Bruni. But where in France are you from?

West Side baby! But not like the USA west. I'm talking about the West Side where REAL GANGSTERS DO REAL THINGS... Basque land....

OK, you're from the countryside, the Basque countryside. I have always been a big fan of the Basque Separatists' terrorist costume. It's like Cobra Commander meets French art fag. Do you know any ETA? Are you one of them? And/or what do you think of them?   

Yes, It is true that the ETA doesn’t have the dress sense of Yohji Yamamoto. I do not really agree with violence, but at the same time, it is impossible for me to understand the difference between terrorism and resistance. The only thing I know is that every time a group of people are taking over, there are always some people who think, and others who throw stones, Molotov cocktails, or more. I agree that this is sad, but let me ask you a question: If you knew a "terrorist," would you tell anyone?

No you're right. I wouldn’t tell you if I knew a terrorist. Did you ever witness any of the ETA actions personally? How did they effect your community or your childhood?

Not really, because ETA always had special targets and they never made random or blind terrorist acts. ETA is not the only thing going on in the Basque land. It is just one of the most known from "outside." They get a lot of press. I'm really glad I was educated in the Basque land because the whole community has strong sharing and friendship values. I'm not a separatist or independant, but I do try to communicate similar values in a different way!

---

---

Where does your name come from? It sounds like a band name like The Who or The Strokes. Do you work alone?  If so, why do you call yourself "The Wa"?

I started with graffiti and my tag was "wase." In the French language, there is a type of slang called Verlan. It's when you invert syllables in a word. The name Verlan is itself an example: verlan = lan ver = l'envers (meaning the inverse). So in French street slang the pronunciation of my original tag "wase" turned into "sewa." All of my friends started calling me this. I thought this was really funny, because in English it sounded a lot like The Wa, and that really fit with this egomaniac graffiti concept of one man being the number one, the best! So I tried to make fun of it by turning my name into a brand. Buy, buy, buy The Wa!!!!!!

How would you characterize what you do? Is it art, activism, terrorism, graffiti or guerrilla street art?

Shit that’s a lot of words!!!! But none of these words really fit with my work. I don't know. Some people call my work "urban hacking." It's also been called "artivism." But maybe its just a colorful way to make people think, and for me to react. To be honest with you, I don’t really know! I just always have this sentence pop up in my head from Pierre Bourdieu: "La Démocratie c'est un pouvoir et un contre pouvoir qui s'Équilibrent entre eux." ("Democracy is the balance between people who have power and those who fight against them.")  I do not pretend that we are living in a democracy (most of my work is illegal) and I realize that some people might think what I do is wrong. Most people don’t understand why I do what I do. I use the city as a stage where I express my ideas whether they are "right" or "wrong."