Technique2012
The man behind Cincinnati’s “cinematic street art.”
There was a summer when I was hanging out at ‘Joe’s Diner on Sycamore’ almost every night, but the place went downhill and eventually closed. It’s been empty for years (and will eventually re-open as the next location for a beloved, local breakfast spot). On this particular day, Joe’s sits quiet and empty despite the pedestrian activity of the neighborhood on a sunny afternoon. One of those people on the street isn’t carrying brunch leftovers, though, he’s got a cut out of an animated woman in his hands and a backpack full of supplies. We greet each other and he gets to work. Amongst the shattered glass of the closed diner’s windows, he lays the female figure by the boarded up door. He throws some glue down, nods at the passersby who look on curiously, and then pushes the artwork against the plywood.
Stepping back, we take a look at the piece.
I’ll let Technique2012’s Instagram description tell the story for Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold (And With a Hammer):
“Alice gets fired from her job as a waitress at the local IHOP due to complaints from her coworker The Mad Hatter. She decides to take her final pay stub to get a wonderland hammer and revisit her old job. She breaks a few windows outside and could be heard yelling ‘off with their heads!’”
I originally came across Technique2012 when I noticed one of his stickers back in the Spring—a handmaid from “The Handmaid’s Tale” wearing a pair of ‘Beats by Dre’ that matched her theocratic dictatorship-issued cloak.
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| - A sticker by Technique2012 as seen in Over-The-Rhine, Spring 2019. |
I started following him on Instagram and have been appreciating his work ever since, occasionally coming across more pieces while wandering around. His work often features references to both popular culture and local lore. There’s always a story in mind, although with a bit of a twist that takes subjects such as beloved Disney characters out of their usual surroundings.
After he’s confident that Alice is secure, we retire to a local bar to talk.
Technique2012 sits to my left and while he may be quiet in tone, he speaks to his vision with confidence and his work with humility. He hails from an artistic background with an appreciation for abstract work, but at the same time: is someone who feels more than comfortable in the street after having had some interesting adventures and run-ins. He describes his use of recognizable subjects and icons as “cinematic street art,” something that has an accessible story to it, work that people can “dive right into.”
As I witnessed a few minutes ago and have seen all around town, his pieces are often affixed with a bonding agent. Sometimes they’re removed, other times stolen, every now and then they’re vandalized, but occasionally they stay up for quite awhile. He sees his pieces as becoming part of the structures and surroundings they occupy, but is comfortable in the ephemeral nature of their materials. Like pop culture itself, his work can become “disposable,” he says.
Overall, Technique2012 isn’t taking himself too seriously. He’s being expressive and telling stories, but he wields an X-acto knife like a surgeon simply because he enjoys it. The references within his work aren’t simply limited to popular media (of which he is an avid consumer, particularly of films)—there are local references too. A small piece affixed to a bike rack outside of a neighborhood bar shows the main characters of ‘King of the Hill’ riding The Vortex at Kings Island. The piece appeared right after it was announced that the local amusement park’s iconic ride was closing for good. He describes "King of the Lift Hill" this way:
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| - King of the Life Hill, 2019. |
“Bobby persuades everyone to get one last ride on The Vortex at Kings Island, but Hank and Peggy are nervous since the last repair of the ride included a flame king propane hookup to help speed things up. Hank prefers Strickland Propane and the Flame King turns out to give The Vortex way too much speed. Dale believes aliens have taken over the ride, Bill hasn’t seen this kind of speed since his football days, and Boomhauer mutters something about ‘they should’ve ridden Banshee instead’ (or at least that’s what they think he says?).”
Technique2012 is a local—and while he (sensibly) couldn’t care less about the city’s often-inflated, perceived rivalry between East and West sides—he does have an appreciation for Cincinnati’s history and its culture, particularly its street art subculture. Operating out of a small studio where he arranges his tactile pieces of foam core and paint in a distinct style, he’s never been afraid to use his art as a means to say something about the Queen City’s current events—from drinking establishment dress codes to gentrification. You wouldn’t have seen any of his work officially featured in past two BLINK festivals, but he did manage to once convince a pair of cops that the bi-annual event was why he was out on the streets, putting up some work.
I appreciate him not just for the interesting contributions he adds to the surrounding streetscape, but for why he does it (or at least why I think he does it after we’ve talked for a bit): taking the knowledge he has, the things he enjoys, and turning it into a story to be shared with anyone who might be curious, temporary as it may often be.
You can follow Technique2012 on Instagram, purchase work from his online store, and still find new pieces popping up all around Cincinnati.
In the weeks since we shared a beer and conversation, I’ve stumbled upon and photographed a few more examples (descriptions borrowed from his Instagram feed):
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| - Metro Stop, 2019 |
“Waiting for the Cincinnati Metro is going to be a wait in this gloomy weather since Totoro got the bus schedule mixed up. Thankfully someone brought an umbrella for the trip. They should've have taken the catbus instead.”
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| - For Whom the Taco Bell Tolls, 2019 |
“Quasimodo gets tied up in a super long Taco Bell line and gets tired of waiting so he decides to hop out of the car and ring the sign instead. That’s sure to get their attention and get him his soft shell tacos.”
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| - Metal Gear Mystery Box, 2019 |
“Everyone loves a good mystery box so when Solid Snake gets his first orange mystery box in the mail, he’s disappointed to see it’s the same one he had been hiding in for years. Not a good look for him since he keeps getting recurring credit card charges for them month after month.”
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| - Pop Goes The Poppins, 2019 |
“Mary Poppins chews a big pack of bubble gum only to have it burst mid-air. So she has to make an emergency landing and head straight to the dry cleaners.”
Thanks, Technique2012, for helping to keep this city interesting.
For some other street art related articles: check out the posts on...