This episode is from a live recording on stage in Cannes, France during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Host Justin Gignac has a beachside chat with street art legend Tristan Eaton. Tristan started pursuing street art as a teenager, painting everything from billboards to dumpsters in the urban landscapes of the cities where he lived. He created his first toy with Fisher-Price at the age of 18 and was and was at the forefront of the designer toy craze in the early 2000s with his work at KidRobot, creating the Dunny and Munny art toys. He is regularly commissioned by a roster of clients that includes Nike, Versace, and even Barack Obama. These days, Eaton is one of the most prominent street artists working today. His large scale mural work features a meticulous, visual collage of pop imagery mixed with his unique personal style, all executed with freehand spray paint on a colossal scale. In this episode, you will learn the importance of self-reinvention to escape formulaic mediocrity, how to know if your subconscious is driving your work, and why inviting people into your own invented universe is perhaps the only way to get clients to give you free rein.
This episode is from a live recording on stage in Cannes, France during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Host Justin Gignac has a beachside chat with street art legend Tristan Eaton.
Tristan started pursuing street art as a teenager, painting everything from billboards to dumpsters in the urban landscapes of the cities where he lived. He created his first toy with Fisher-Price at the age of 18 and was and was at the forefront of the designer toy craze in the early 2000s with his work at KidRobot, creating the Dunny and Munny art toys.
He is regularly commissioned by a roster of clients that includes Nike, Versace, and even Barack Obama. These days, Eaton is one of the most prominent street artists working today. His large scale mural work features a meticulous, visual collage of pop imagery mixed with his unique personal style, all executed with freehand spray paint on a colossal scale.
In this conversation, Tristan discusses how toy design was a natural evolution from the world of street art, but why he ultimately felt a calling back to his roots. "Being deeply in the middle of Hypebeast culture and being a slave to people's shopping habits and how you make your art--that was never why I wanted to make art. I didn't want to retroactively design my art for a seasonal release-or a shopping habit."
Tristan sees his creative career in chapters, but no matter the reinvention, he is forever cast under the spell of spray paint's alchemy. His art is a permanent catalyst in his own life. "A lot of my girlfriends in the past have hated my art because it's a strange force. It gives me my sense of who I am and my work ethic. Sometimes the people in your life want to be the ones that give you that. But I'm very lucky because I find this power and strength and peace from my own art."
In this episode, you will learn the importance of self-reinvention to escape formulaic mediocrity, how to know if your subconscious is driving your work, and why inviting people into your own invented universe is perhaps the only way to get clients to give you free rein.
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SHOW NOTES:
Tristan Eaton (Instagram / website)
Tristan's "Legacy" series
Tristan Eaton: [00:00:00] I always wanted to do an illegal parade balloon, like make the parade balloon and like fake the passes and get it into the fucking Macy's parade illegally.
Justin Gignac: [00:00:10] You know, you're putting this out like a little too much.
Tristan Eaton: [00:00:12] Yeah. Don't tell anybody guys.
Justin Gignac: [00:00:20] Oh, I just read the whole intro and forgot to hit record. We can keep this in. This is such a rookie move. I sent myself home a couple of days ago with a cough, and I'm doing this in my closet surrounded by pillows with a wool blanket over my head. And I'm already overheating. And I just read this whole intro thoughtfully, and I wasn't recording.
So anyway, let's try this again. Welcome to Overshare a show where I interview creatives I admire about the struggles of being a creative professional. I'm your host, Justin Gignac, and I'm also the co founder and CEO of Working Not Working, and I'm just going to apologize in advance for the audio quality of this voiceover.
Let me check. Yes, I'm still recording. Great. I am, like I said, huddled among pillows in a wool blanket in my closet because I had to go home from work because I had a cough. And among this current climate, this seemed like the most responsible thing to do. So I couldn't get into the studio to record this, but good news guys, I have phlegm and you might be able to hear it a little in my voice , which is great news. Because apparently phlegm does not come along with a Corona virus, so I've got just a cold. so you're getting all the good juicy Ovesrharey, phlegmy conversation right now. anyway, it's a weird time right now. as I know, all of you are probably feeling it, and I'm even sensing it from this past week.
We did a Talking Not Talking. For those of you who don't know, we do a monthly support group in New York, LA, and San Francisco where we just sit around in a circle and talk about the stuff we're struggling with. And a lot of times, a lot of the people who come to those meetings are freelancers and freelancers who work for their home.
And just know how lonely and isolating that can get. You know, being able to come out and see other people and talk to other people. It's just a huge benefit. And I know like as more and more people are going to be working from home and these next few weeks, it's going to be important to connect with each other.
So, you know, FaceTime someone today, invite them to a Google hangout maybe during lunch. So you guys can all watch each other eat salads, like you're in an office. Just do whatever you can as frequently as you can to connect with one another. cause it's going to be really important.
Now I'm supposed to remind you too. Please subscribe, rate and review Overshare. That's the way people discover us. Also, we have an Instagram feed at @oversharetalks and also Twitter feed at @oversharetalks, there's some amazing collages that Eugene, our designer, has created for the season. if you could share those and spread the word, we'd really love to have more people hearing these conversations.
And we're going to do our best among all of this to stick to our weekly schedule that we've set out to do this season. It's only episode two. We've got another one recorded for next week. but then we've got to figure out what we're going to do.
So we've haven't really done interviews online. We've only been doing them in the studio or live, but I think we might have to do that.
And I think it's okay. I don't love the audio quality typically of internet podcasts, recordings over the internet. But if it's what we gotta do to keep these conversations going and getting them out to you, it's definitely what we should be doing. So. We'll do our best to keep this going. but now let's get to into the episode.
Now. I was ecstatic to get to interview artist, Tristan Eaton at the Cannes Lion festival in Cannes, France last summer. A huge thanks, first of all, to Facebook for hosting us and the community hub at Facebook beach. And this is a live recording with a rosé soaked crowd, from the South. France.
NowTristan is a pro. This was his third or fourth interview of the day, and he was stuck in traffic until like the minute before we were supposed to go on and he just walks up and he was just like, Hey man, what do you want to talk about? He was like anything you want threw a mic on and walked out there and just delivered. So I really appreciate Tristan for being such a professional and diving in and have a really honest and entertaining conversation with me. And for those of you who don't know Tristan, he's a legend in the street art world. He designed his first toy for Fisher price when he was 18 years old via sending faxes over to them.
And he was at the forefront of the designer toy craze in the early two thousands and with his work at Kid robot, creating the dunny and money art toys. And for those of you who remember that, especially those in New York, that would go over to Kid robot on Prince Street and wait in those lines and get those limited edition toys. It was a pretty, pretty amazing time for art and culture. And since we had this conversation last summer, Tristan has continued to make epic work, including most recently designing the tickets and program for Superbowl 54 in Miami, which takes his street art style and vibrant colors and illustrations and brought it to the artwork there. And I just love how much Tristan has evolved his work over these years and pushed it in different directions.
He sees it all in chapters where he follows a particular curiosity to, as he puts it, exorcise the demon. And then when it's done, he just moves on to the next thing. And a lot of times when he moves onto the next thing, it's under a secret identity or two, which has got to be a pretty freeing way to do new work.
In this episode, you will learn how important it is to reinvent yourself, push past the point where it gets easier for you because that's where the mediocrity sets in and you learn how inventing your own universe and inviting the world in will lead to doing more of the work that you really want to be doing anyway.
Anyway, enjoy this sunny beachy South of France conversation with the legendary Tristan.
Justin Gignac: [00:00:48] Welcome. How's everybody doin'?
Audience: [00:00:51] Woo-hoo!
Justin Gignac: [00:00:51] Who's hung over? Anybody hung over?
Audience: [00:00:53] Yeah!
Justin Gignac: [00:00:53] Yeah. everyone feeling good? Well, thank you for coming. So we're recording this for the podcast. as Liz said, I'm Justin Gignac. how many people here are on Working Not Working? I know there's some here. All right, good to see. if you're not on Working Not Working, we'd love to talk to you afterward. And whether you're an amazing creative or someone who hires amazing creatives, you should be, you should join us. yeah. Thank you to Liz and the Facebook team for hosting us here at the Community Hub at the Facebook beach. and for those of you listening, we're at the Cannes Lion Festival here in the South of France. It is not that bad.
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:21] It's not bad.
Justin Gignac: [00:01:21] Not bad at all. And I'd like to introduce my guest-
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:23] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:01:23] ... Tristan Eaton.
Tristan is one of the most prominent street artists working today. His epic mural work, all executed with freehand spray paint. It's ridiculous. It can be found in dozens of cities around the globe, from Paris to Shanghai. He's regularly commissioned by a roster of clients that includes Nike, Versace, and even Barack Obama. And his work can be found in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Let's welcome him.
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:43] Thank you.
Audience: [00:01:43] [clapping]
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:43] Thank you very much.
Justin Gignac: [00:01:45] So you've been hustling today. A lot of Cannes, a lot of Cannes talking.
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:48] It's been, it's been a long day.
Justin Gignac: [00:01:49] Yeah. How are you feeling?
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:50] great, man. I mean, South of France is one of my favorite parts of the planet. I love being here. Any excuse to be here? I'm in. this is my third time at the Cannes Lions.
Justin Gignac: [00:01:59] Oh, okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:01:59] First time was about 12 years ago. And, it's always a good time, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:04] It's changed a little.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:05] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:05] It's a little crazier.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:06] It's like Art Basel for Mad Men, or something.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:08] Yeah, exactly.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:09] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:02:10] and then are we gonna see you at some point, like, in a fedora, sipping rosé?
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:13] Ha. Every day, every day.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:15] Every day. All right, good. [laughs] all right. We're going to dive in. you know, just kind of get some of the basics out of the way. Where are you from originally?
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:21] I was born in, Hollywood, California. I was born and raised in Hollywood.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:25] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:25] my mom is an actress. My dad is a movie producer.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:28] Oh, wow.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:28] So I literally grew up in Hollywood. when I was seven years old, I ran away from home and ended up at the Mann's Chinese Theater as, like, a seven-year-old, you know. So, I'm living in LA again now, and I don't, I don't meet many people who are born and raised there.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:42] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:42] but I moved around my whole life, so. When I was eight years old, I moved to England, my mother's British.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:47] Oh, okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:47] So I was in London from eight to 16. Then I moved to Detroit, Michigan. And in Detroit is where I really got into graffiti, you know, there's no rules there. You can paint whenever you want.
Justin Gignac: [00:02:57] Yeah. Especially in the more mid-nineties.
Tristan Eaton: [00:02:59] Yeah. Mid-nineties. It was like a graffiti writer's paradise. then I moved to New York City. I was there for 15 years, and I moved back to LA six years ago.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:07] Oh, wow. And you, I think you went to SVA as well.
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:10] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:11] So I moved to New York in '98, and you did it sorta-
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:13] So did I.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:13] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:14] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:14] And then you, how long were you at SVA?
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:16] Oh, like, a year and a half. I dropped out.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:19] Yeah. That was probably, I should have done that.
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:21] All the arts schools I went to and dropped out of, try to claim me as an alumni now. I'm like, no.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:25] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:26] You didn't want me then, you don't want me now.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:28] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:28] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:03:29] And so you grew up in a, a creative household. So, like, what kind of effect did that have on you and, the way you looked at art and, and, and what you do?
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:37] well my parents didn't have a lot of money. so, you know, they made up for that with their love and support, you know. I had a very tight family.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:45] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Do you have siblings?
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:46] Yeah, my older brother was a graffiti writer, too. I mean, he, he, my older brother got me into graffiti.
Justin Gignac: [00:03:51] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:03:51] So, he started a graffiti crew in, like, 1989 in London. So, he was four years older; I was a little kid. And I wanted to be like my older brother's friends and paint trains-
Justin Gignac: [00:04:01] Of course.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:01] And do all that stuff, so that's how I learned about graffiti was in London back then. And it was, like, overnight we stopped skateboarding and got into graffiti.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:09] Yeah.
And how old were you at that time when you got into graffiti?
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:11] about 17.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:12] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:13] You know, and when I was in Detroit, it was, like, free rein. You could do whatever you want, you know, we would climb abandoned buildings and paint everything. We'd throw furniture out the 20th floor window-
Justin Gignac: [00:04:24] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:24] ... watch it explode.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:25] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:25] You know, there's no rules, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:26] Yeah. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:27] it was pretty awesome. But. My family was very supportive of my creative endeavors. I mean-
Justin Gignac: [00:04:33] That's rare.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:33] When I was really young, I was really prolific. I made so much art as a little, little kid. It was almost weird, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:04:40] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:40] And they were very supportive of that. And I knew what I wanted to do really, really young, so I just wanted everyone out of my way. I just wanted to get to it.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:47] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:48] So I started working professionally while I was in art school. I started designing toys for Fisher Price when I was like 18 years old.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:54] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:04:55] And yeah, man. I got started very, very early. It was a good thing.
Justin Gignac: [00:04:58] Great so, how did you start designing toys, toys at 18 years old?
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:01] one of my art teachers.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:02] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:02] Liked what I did, referred me to, an art director at Fisher Price in Buffalo, New York.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:07] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:08] And I started, sending sketches by fax machine to Buffalo, New York, to Fisher Price.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:13] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:13] And, you know, little did I know that toy design would be such a big part of my life.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:18] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:18] It wasn't intentional.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:19] No.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:20] So fast-forward to, like, 2004, when we started Kidrobot. I'm not sure if there's any Kidrobot fans here, but it was like the-
Audience: [00:05:26] Woo!
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:27] ... funnest, craziest thing in the world.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:28] and that was at the time when it was all, like, that was like the epicenter of the movement. Like, I remember going to what was that on Prince Street, going in there on Prince Street, and it's like every toy, every limited edition, and you were just, you were designing a ton of stuff there.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:40] Well, it went from us, like, figuring out how to make toys from scratch to Jay Z and Lindsay Lohan, like, spending thousands of dollars on it and coming out with bags and bags-
Justin Gignac: [00:05:50] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:50] ... and we created this weird culture, or kind of imported it, really, because it was big in Tokyo and Hong Kong-
Justin Gignac: [00:05:56] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:56] ... but no one had brought it to the States like Kidrobot did.
Justin Gignac: [00:05:58] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:05:59] but when we started Kidrobot, my background was toy design and graffiti.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:03] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:03] So it was like, perfect.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:04] That's kind of like the perfect marriage.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:05] Yeah, it was perfect. but I didn't plan for toy design to be such a big part of my life and career.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:11] it was a crazy, random thing.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:13] But it like, it like blew up really quickly.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:16] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:16] And then, you know, there's a lot of people here who are trying to build brands and movements and, and, and all that. Like, what were some of the biggest things you learned by being a part of that fever going on, and, 'cause people would line up around the block to get these limited-edition toys, and it was just, it was insane.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:30] Yeah, man. One of the things, I mean, I think I learned a lot about what not to do-
Justin Gignac: [00:06:34] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:34] You know, and there's a lot of business experiences and, you know, lessons you learn that you can apply to being an artist as well.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:43] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:43] And what I can say I, I, I am very aware of is that, with Kidrobot, there was a lot of innovation. You know, there's no rules in what we were doing. We were like, you know, using the method of manufacturing toys as a medium for art.
Justin Gignac: [00:06:57] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:06:58] So we'd make a hundred toys, and then break the mold.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:00] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:01] And, you know, we were inventing the norm in this weird subgenre, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:07:06] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:06] This weird subculture.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:08] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:08] inevitably that became a formula, okay? So what was experimental and innovative-
Justin Gignac: [00:07:14] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:14] Became a formula-
Justin Gignac: [00:07:16] 'Cause it worked, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:17] ... and became, you know, a regimen of, you know, seasonal releases and all this baloney.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:22] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:22] And, I ended up, like, stopping making toys and leaving that world because, what I did, I loved the art making of it.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:29] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:30] What I didn't like was the shopping of it, and, you know, I'm sure everyone knows what Hypebeast is and what Hypebeast culture is and all of that, and being deeply in the middle of that and contributing to that, what I didn't like about it is that it was really not about art or culture, it was just about shopping.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:49] Having the thing. Acquiring the thing.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:50] Yeah. And being a slave to people's shopping habits, and how you make your art.
Justin Gignac: [00:07:55] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:07:55] That was never why I wanted to make art, and I didn't want to, you know, retroactively design my art for a seasonal release-
Justin Gignac: [00:08:04] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:05] ... or a shopping habit.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:06] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:06] So, I stopped doing that.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:08] Well, and I guess when you see that start to be successful, it leaves a lot less room for experimentation like you guys were doing, and trying different things.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:14] Yeah, but I guess the point I was making and how it correlates to my art-
Justin Gignac: [00:08:18] Yeah,
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:18] ... is, you know, I've been making a living off my art for 20 years, which is very hard to do.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:22] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:23] And over those 20 years I've had to reinvent myself many times, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:26] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:27] And every time there's an innovation, it becomes a formula.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:31] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:31] And you have to realize when that's happening because now you're just doing what's easy, what you know is predictable-
Justin Gignac: [00:08:37] Uh-huh.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:37] ... and then that leads to mediocrity, so.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:39] Well, it's also the fad and the other people are jumping on that, too. And so it's like that, too, you want to keep pushing things.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:44] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:44] And people, like, whether it's copying your style or just, like, so many people saturating the thing that you do really well-
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:50] [crosstalk 00:09:14], man.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:50] ... you have to keep moving ahead of it.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:51] I was so happy when my toys got bootlegged the first time.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:54] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:54] That was the biggest compliment in the world.
Justin Gignac: [00:08:56] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:08:57] I loved that. but, you know, I learned a lot of lessons in the business side that I do apply to how I make art, for sure.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:03] Yeah. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:04] and, you know, a lot of art is commerce, you know. A lot of how we judge success is based on, the financial outcome, you know.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:12] So, that's, an ugly truth in how art is measured.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:16] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:16] You know, did the show sell out? How much did a painting sell for?
Justin Gignac: [00:09:19] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:20] As opposed to the artistic merit of the work.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:22] Well, that's gotta be-
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:23] It's inescapable.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:23] It's gotta be one of the nice things of, like, putting stuff on the street still, because-
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:27] [laughs] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:27] ... you're not, you're not selling it, it's just there for the people, it's accessible. Like you, you do some pretty epically huge murals. Like, what's the biggest one you've done? Like, how many stories?
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:37] the largest was 14 stories in Seoul, South Korea.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:41] How long did that take you?
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:42] five days.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:43] Do you have assistants, or are you doing it all on your own?
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:44] a lot of them I do alone.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:45] Wow.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:46] But the thing is, spray paint is a fast medium. So, with a couple of fat caps, I can cover more square footage than any artists could 30 years ago prior.
Justin Gignac: [00:09:56] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:57] So, you know, graffiti gave birth-
Justin Gignac: [00:09:58] Tools. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:09:59] ... graffiti gave birth to a generation of muralists.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:01] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:02] We're all equipped to paint giant murals more than any artists before us of any other generation.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:08] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:08] And that happens at a time when there's an appetite for large-scale muralism around the planet.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:14] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:15] So you see many artists, like Cyrcle, Aryz, Shepard Fairey, How and Nosm, all these great artists, pushing the boundaries and painting larger and larger and larger, everywhere around the planet.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:28] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:28] Where, you know, 15 years ago, I was trying to get permission to do big murals.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:34] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:34] No one was letting me. You know, there wasn't an appetite for it. But now there is.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:38] Is that a weird thing, like, graffiti, you know, back when you started, was probably a rebellious act, and so, and you, I'm sure, probably got arrested a couple of times for doing it?
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:47] Once.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:47] Once, okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:48] [laughs] But I got arrested for lots of other stuff, but for graffiti once.
Justin Gignac: [00:10:51] [laughs] But it's like a thing where it was rebellious and now, it's, people are, like, paying you for it and, and, and celebrating you for it. Is that, was that ever a weird transition for you?
Tristan Eaton: [00:10:59] It's a weird transition, and there's, they're two separate animals completely. You know, all the illegal work that I've done has a different agenda to legal work that I'm doing.
Justin Gignac: [00:11:10] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:10] So, when you're painting a 10-story mural in a city, you're changing the face of that city. You're changing the landscape, and there's a lot of responsibility that comes with that.
Justin Gignac: [00:11:19] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:19] Okay. You don't want to be, forcing your work on the public-
Justin Gignac: [00:11:24] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:24] ... so you have to make sure that, you know, you know, art can be a dictatorship sometimes, and, you know, you don't want to, enforce the wrong kind of art on that public. So you have to know where you're painting it, what that city's like, and how it's going to matter, and how it's going to affect that community. Because even if you just paint a building bright yellow-
Justin Gignac: [00:11:45] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:45] It's going to affect how people feel that live right around that.
Justin Gignac: [00:11:47] Mm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:47] So now, the giant illustrative graphic mural, it's gonna change some people's minds. It's gonna change their day. It's gonna affect that community.
Justin Gignac: [00:11:59] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:11:59] So there's responsibility that comes with that, that I take seriously.
Justin Gignac: [00:12:02] So you're, you're researching the area and the culture and, and talking to some people, just so you have an understanding of what would resonate?
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:09] You have to be responsible with the work you're putting into the community-
Justin Gignac: [00:12:12] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:12] ... when it's that scale. Now, when you're doing illegal work, it's a different thing. Now, graffiti is different than street art, okay?
Justin Gignac: [00:12:20] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:20] 'Cause graffiti is the game of putting your name up as much as possible-
Justin Gignac: [00:12:26] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:26] ... preferably with as much style as possible.
Justin Gignac: [00:12:28] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:28] And that's it. And it comes from people wanting to let the world know they exist. "Here's my name, that's who I am."
Justin Gignac: [00:12:37] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:37] And then that has all this, like, street fame that comes with that.
Justin Gignac: [00:12:42] Especially where you put it, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:43] I mean, it's contagious.
Justin Gignac: [00:12:44] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:45] But that's not to be confused with street art.
Justin Gignac: [00:12:47] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:12:48] Because street art is not that game. and then, you know, a, a million artists have a million different agendas for why they put art in a public space. Earlier today I was talking about competing with advertising agencies.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:00] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:01] So, in the landscape of the cities we live in, you have all these billboards that we didn't ask for or vote for.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:07] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:08] They're forced upon us. So, for people like me, we want to fight back and take back our public space, to put what we want to see-
Justin Gignac: [00:13:17] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:17] ... and beauty, and graffiti, and street art, whatever it is.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:20] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:20] You know, why do only they have the right to imagery and public space? You know, that's not fair to a lot of us.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:27] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:28] So, you know, it depends what your agenda is, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:30] And so then there's like a responsibility in a community around putting the counter, the counter to that and putting beautiful art up.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:36] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:36] Yeah, that's really nice. you know, I think a lot of people have a hard time letting go of their style, especially if it's popular. How have you been able to evolve it? Cause when we first met, 12 maybe plus years ago, your style was very different.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:47] Yeah, it was.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:47] Your style was coming out of the Kidrobot stuff, very black and white, very graphic.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:50] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:50] It was still collage, 'cause you were pasting this-
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:52] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:52] ... on top of each other, which you can still see in your work now.
Tristan Eaton: [00:13:55] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:13:55] But, like, what was the point where you let go of that and you started doing something that's pretty vastly different than that?
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:01] It's pretty calculated.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:02] Okay.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:02] For me, internally, and how I look at what I'm doing, I see all my work in chapters.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:09] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:09] Okay? So when I feel a chapter ending, and I feel like it's time to change it up, I consciously calculate a new chapter-
Justin Gignac: [00:14:18] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:19] ... to try and experiment with, like, okay. I'm going to try this other part of me and give this part of my creative brain a shot.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:29] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:30] And I'm going to give it my everything for, you know, three years and give it a run and see where it goes.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:35] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:36] And exorcise the demon and get it out.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:38] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:38] So that's where a lot of my kind of visual landscape of work has come from is, you know, different chapters of what's inside of me that needs to get out. So for a long time, I was doing a lot of very sepia, black-and-white work 'cause I have color blindness that's really strong.
Justin Gignac: [00:14:54] Oh, wow.
Tristan Eaton: [00:14:54] So I wanted to not worry about color and focus on line and design, and all of this. And then, I got to work on the Obama campaign in 2008, and that was an amazing experience, but it made me pay a lot more attention to politics in America.
Justin Gignac: [00:15:09] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:09] And that was when the racists came out of the woodwork, and the ugliness in American politics was on full display, and that stirred up a lot in me-
Justin Gignac: [00:15:18] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:18] ... and it pushed me to do a whole huge body of work that was super illegal and super aggressive in message. So, to do that I had to give that whole project a new name, so no one knew it was me.
Justin Gignac: [00:15:34] Oh, wow.
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:34] So I could do it with, plausible deniability.
Justin Gignac: [00:15:38] Uh-huh.
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:38] And also let this body of work, succeed or fail without me attached to it.
Justin Gignac: [00:15:44] So, on its own merit.
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:45] On its own merit. And that was an interesting experiment, but it was also the part of me that, is more of a writer and a thinker and a prankster-
Justin Gignac: [00:15:55] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:15:55] ... and not the painter.
Justin Gignac: [00:15:56] Yeah. Well, there's a lot of commentary just even in, like, the language that you have within the murals and-
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:00] Sure.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:01] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:01] So fast-forward, you know, the kind of work I'm doing now was me forcing myself to take all my disciplines and mush 'em together, literally.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:12] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:13] So, my work is very collage in nature, but all the elements that are there on display-
Justin Gignac: [00:16:19] And some of it's up over here, you guys can see it here.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:20] Oh, okay.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:20] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:21] ... a lot of the elements that are on display are not random. They're, areas of design I explored for years.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:27] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:28] You know, I, I was at a TV show at Disney for a long time.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:31] Oh, that's cool.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:31] I spent years as an illustrator-
Justin Gignac: [00:16:33] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:34] ... as a cartoonist. So when I bring that kind of, those kind of visuals into my work, it comes from a lot of history and dedication to that art form.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:43] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:43] Same with branding and design, graphic design. When that comes into my work, and it comes from an informed place-
Justin Gignac: [00:16:49] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:49] ... and isn't there just for a superficial function-
Justin Gignac: [00:16:53] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:53] ... you know? But anyway, I have-
Justin Gignac: [00:16:54] It's not decoration, it actually is born of you, and-
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:56] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:16:57] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:16:57] But I, I wanted to finally step back and look at my work and feel like it was all of me on display-
Justin Gignac: [00:17:03] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:03] ... and not just wanting to blend disciplines.
Justin Gignac: [00:17:06] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:06] So for the first time in my life, the mural work and painting work that I'm doing, I feel like is 100% of me.
Justin Gignac: [00:17:12] Yeah, that's, that's a great spot to be in.
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:14] And that, that feels really, really good, but I, I'm still trying to get better all the time, and there's still room to grow. You know?
Justin Gignac: [00:17:19] Do you feel like it's hard, you know, like that, that's an interesting technique to be able to do and explore a whole different style without having your name attached to it. Cause I think a lot of people, especially your clients, are coming to you, paying you for you to do the thing you do. It's hard to break out of that and evolve out of that because they don't want you experimenting on their dime. So, was like, was that, was that the only way you think you could do that? Like, just to, just to start anew, or, like, if you're going to evolve again-
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:40] Well, it kind of helped to avoid-
Justin Gignac: [00:17:42] Do you-
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:42] ... getting arrested.
Justin Gignac: [00:17:43] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:44] You know, for one.
Justin Gignac: [00:17:45] Yeah. But you- Yeah. [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:47] Yeah. But, you know, a lot of it was to kind of put it into a vacuum, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:17:51] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:51] So that it had nothing to do with me.
Justin Gignac: [00:17:53] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:17:53] and when I started that particular project, I already had a name and a reputation through Kidrobot and all this other stuff.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:00] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:01] And I didn't want the work to be tainted by that.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:03] Do you think you would do that again if you were to have another, another evolution, another chapter?
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:06] Yeah. Of course.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:07] Yeah. That, it worked well.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:07] I have, like, two other secret identities already. [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:18:11] That's awesome.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:11] I think there's nothing wrong with that. I think it's, you know, kind of fun to be able to, like, take, you know, an alter ego-
Justin Gignac: [00:18:18] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:18] ... and let it out of the cage.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:19] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:20] You know what I mean?
Justin Gignac: [00:18:20] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:21] And a lot of graffiti writers I know have four or five names, you know what I mean? There's graffiti writers who are now so wanted in LA, they had to like burn their old name and start a new name.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:32] Wow.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:32] You know? So, for me, it was a convenient way to, like, let all the creative beasts in me have a playground. And to give it their own identity-
Justin Gignac: [00:18:41] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:41] ... and let it go.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:42] Well, that seems really interesting, also coming from your mother's background as an actress-
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:46] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:46] ... and taking on identities.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:47] Yeah, I never thought about that, yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:48] Like coming, coming from that, and just saying, "Hey, today I'm going to be this,-"
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:50] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:18:50] "... tomorrow, I'm gonna be this."
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:51] Yeah. But...
Justin Gignac: [00:18:51] And having that freedom to, to explore those parts of you. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:18:56] Absolutely, man. And, but I think you have to be doing that with a purpose, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:19:00] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:19:00] So for me, it was always like a method of seeking, you know, to, like, find out what I'm really capable of as an artist. And, you know, it doesn't always line up what you like doing, and what people want to pay you for, and what you enjoy doing. Those three things don't always line up. Yeah. So sometimes you're doing something that makes money, but you hate doing it, or you're doing something you love doing, but no one's paying you for it.
Justin Gignac: [00:19:28] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:19:28] So, for me, I've always been seeking that balance. I'm like, okay, well, what are all the pieces? What medium is going to open me up like a faucet to be able to create on a higher plane than ever before?
Justin Gignac: [00:19:41] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:19:41] So you think about like someone like Jean-Michel Basquiat-
Justin Gignac: [00:19:43] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:19:44] ... you know, where his tools allow him to open up and flow, and there's no speed bumps between what's in him and the tools he's using and the final product, okay?
Justin Gignac: [00:19:56] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:19:57] So, for me, nothing has done that for me more than spray paint. Okay. Spray paint as a tool has made me more of myself than anything. It's the most beautiful tool in the world because I can go from painting vector graphics and realistic graphics with one tool-
Justin Gignac: [00:20:15] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:16] No tape, no stencils, nothing, and no changing in the tools that I'm using. And-
Justin Gignac: [00:20:21] It's just the different heads, and you can get really fine. You can get really broad-
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:24] I can't tell you that, man. That's secret shit.
Justin Gignac: [00:20:25] Yeah, yeah. [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:28] [laughs] But it's, there's an alchemy to spray paint that's beautiful.
Justin Gignac: [00:20:31] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:32] But it's the only tool that's brought something out in me and how I paint, where I will paint and step back and not think I could do it again.
Justin Gignac: [00:20:42] Mm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:42] And be scared of what I did, and not think I could repeat it.
Justin Gignac: [00:20:45] Mm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:45] So now I'm like, "Shit, man, I don't know if I can do that twice." And that's the closest I can get to making great art-
Justin Gignac: [00:20:53] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:53] ... is when I can get out of the way-
Justin Gignac: [00:20:55] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:56] ... and let it become subconscious.
Justin Gignac: [00:20:57] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:20:58] And then, you know, you're really close to doing something good.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:01] Well, that's, like, such an interesting contrast for, you know, going, being in toy production where everything's replicated, and then doing this, and you're like, "Hey, this is probably one of a kind of, I can't do it again."
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:09] It's so-
Justin Gignac: [00:21:09] There's probably a nice freedom in that.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:10] ... pre-planned.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:12] You know, getting away from that has been really big for me with my art. You know, where I, my pre-designed mural, once I'm there painting it, I allow mistakes to happen, I allow things to change on the spot.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:26] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:27] You know, it's beautiful.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:28] That's amazing. And then, and how has the transition been for you going from, you know, commercial art, toys, to being now more in the fine art space and doing gallery shows? And has that been a hard transition, or is it just kind of-
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:39] No, man, I, I, I think that everything I learned on the business side of art has helped me be a better artist or, you know, everything I've learned on the business side of brands-
Justin Gignac: [00:21:46] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:47] ... has helped me be a better artist. Yeah. You know, I was lucky 'cause I, like I said, I started working professionally very young, so I knew I how to protect my art very young.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:55] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:56] and that saved me from a lot of disaster.
Justin Gignac: [00:21:58] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:21:59] You know, and I like looking out for a lot of other artists. I'm not a competitive artist, you know, I don't like, competing with people.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:05] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:05] I like seeing other artists do well. So a lot of my friends who are artists come to me like, "Hey, Tristan, I got this contract."
Justin Gignac: [00:22:12] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:12] "What did you do when this happened to you?" And now I'm like a free lawyer for-
Justin Gignac: [00:22:16] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:16] ... a lot of my friends because-
Justin Gignac: [00:22:18] Hey, take note, people.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:19] ... Well, you know, over the years, you end up doing every kind of project.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:22] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:22] So, I learned a lot the hard way-
Justin Gignac: [00:22:24] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:25] ... and then you gotta spread that love, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:26] Yeah, absolutely.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:26] You gotta help out the younger generation.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:28] And there's plenty of work to go around, and you want to see people flourish? Yeah, of course.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:31] Exactly right. Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:31] That's amazing. why is legacy so important to you? Like, I know you did a whole series on legacy, and it was really touching.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:38] yeah. yeah, I did a whole exhibition about my father. my father's a special guy, and when he passed away, he didn't really leave much behind, and, you know, I, I, I basically started, kind of documenting the life stories of the people around him, and painting portraits based on those life stories, and kind of crafting his legacy through art.
Justin Gignac: [00:22:58] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:22:58] and I don't know man. I mean, I think for a lot of artists it's on you to tell your story. no one else is going to do that for you, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:23:06] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:06] So, legacy is a very important thing. And, as an independent artist, you have to be the one pushing you to get where you want to be. And for me, I've definitely recognized that telling your story is an important part of, your success.
Justin Gignac: [00:23:23] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:23] So, for me, if I, I might want to be doing something, evolved for where I am now-
Justin Gignac: [00:23:29] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:30] ... but I can't jump there. I have to intentionally slow it down so that I can show the progression publicly-
Justin Gignac: [00:23:37] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:38] ... and, bring people along with me for the story.
Justin Gignac: [00:23:40] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:40] So they can see me gradually get to this end point, you know? So you're kinda like telling your story, even though you want to be jumping to paint it with lasers-
Justin Gignac: [00:23:49] Yeah, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:49] ... right now-
Justin Gignac: [00:23:50] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:50] ... you have to slowly evolve so people are along for the ride.
Justin Gignac: [00:23:54] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:23:54] you know, I'm lucky to have people that have been following my career for a long time, who come up to me and say, "Hey man, I've been following you since the Kidrobot days-"
Justin Gignac: [00:24:02] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:03] "... and I love what you're doing now. And it's been great to watch the story."
Justin Gignac: [00:24:05] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:05] so I think it's good to cater to that and, you know, invite people into the story a little bit.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:11] Yeah, and I think it's inspiring to be able to see people pushing themselves, reinventing themselves, going on to a bigger scale or bigger challenges. And so you can see where they came from. It's like you're, you're proud for them, you know?
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:21] Yeah, totally.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:22] And it's, and it's, it's nice to feel a connection with artists and just, you know, people in your life that you see growing and evolving. 'Cause that takes a lot of courage to do that. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:29] Yeah, I think we all enjoy seeing artists take chances and evolve.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:33] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:33] You know, either musicians or filmmakers or painters.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:36] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:36] You know, there's something disappointing about when your favorite artist is now doing the same thing over and over and over.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:43] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:44] You're like, "Oh man, that was cool 10 years ago."
Justin Gignac: [00:24:46] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:47] "But come on, wake up."
Justin Gignac: [00:24:48] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:49] So you know, I, I want to keep evolving.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:52] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:53] And a lot of my, you know, need to evolve comes from trying to get better.
Justin Gignac: [00:24:59] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:24:59] You know, I try to be as self-aware as possible. I know what I'm bad at-
Justin Gignac: [00:25:03] What are you bad at?
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:04] Oh man, there's certain spray-painting techniques that I can't do that I really need to know how to do.
Justin Gignac: [00:25:10] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:10] You know? Some walls, like, you know, when I paint murals, I don't want to use brushes, I don't want to use tape or stencils or anything. But when I paint a big portrait, painting eyelashes with spray paint is very difficult. You can, like, take the pressure out of the can and get a tapered line that has an effect. But when you do that, it splatters all over your perfect portrait. You know, so there's always, like, little things.
Justin Gignac: [00:25:34] And if you're not taping stuff off, then you, you know.
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:36] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:25:36] You've gotta deal with it. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:37] Yeah. And a lot of times I'm painting with an audience, you know, there's people watching, so, you know, I don't want to use any tricks or cheat in any way.
Justin Gignac: [00:25:44] Yeah.
You don't want to stick vinyl eyelashes on.
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:46] But I also keep that in mind when designing the work.
Justin Gignac: [00:25:49] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:50] So, when I'm designing the big murals, I'm always trying to incorporate imagery that I've never painted before-
Justin Gignac: [00:25:56] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:25:56] ... and give myself challenges, man. And, you know, keep it interesting for people that are watching.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:01] Yeah. And there's, there's a lot of nostalgia in your work.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:03] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:03] Like, where does that come from? Is that from growing up in Hollywood and, kind of, old Hollywood and, and all of that-
... or does it come from somewhere else?
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:10] I think I, I, I look for timeless imagery.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:12] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:13] You know, there's a certain kind of imagery that stands the test of time.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:16] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:17] And, I kind of gravitate towards that kind of imagery.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:19] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:20] But there are no, like, photographs of, like, Hollywood noir, and, you know, actresses from the '40s who have like a timeless beauty. But to me there's like logo design that has that, too.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:33] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:33] You know, there's, you know, graphics that have timeless beauty as well.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:37] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:38] So it's not just in the subject if I'm painting, but the elements I'm using, too.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:41] Well, yeah. Like, the, the, the, I see, like, sometimes, like, a snippet of a logo or just even some patterns, like,
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:46] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:46] ... some are recognizable, some aren't-
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:48] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:48] ... but like all of that together.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:49] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:49] There's so much, so many little nuances in the stuff that you're doing. It's like, I, I liked with the legacy, like you were telling someone's story through all of these elements.
Tristan Eaton: [00:26:58] Right.
Justin Gignac: [00:26:58] It's like, oh, that's amazing, like.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:00] But-
Justin Gignac: [00:27:00] And there's just a lot to investigate, a lot to explore. It's fun.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:03] I feel like, at best, when I'm creating the collage compositions, at my best, every single piece has meaning-
Justin Gignac: [00:27:12] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:12] ... or is part of the story.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:13] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:14] And there's no filler.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:14] Yeah, it's not frivolous.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:15] Yeah. But sometimes, you know, if I'm doing a big piece, it's just for fun for me.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:20] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:20] I might free form it and just freestyle-
Justin Gignac: [00:27:23] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:23] ... and it doesn't have to be so deep or meaningful. I can have fun and allow the illustrative elements to work like abstract elements-
Justin Gignac: [00:27:33] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:33] So that you're painting with graphic logo shapes.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:37] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:38] You know, or the illustrative pieces become abstract pieces.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:42] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:42] You know, sometimes it's nice to not have so much-
Justin Gignac: [00:27:46] Where it almost puts so much pressure on every little element. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:48] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:49] do you feel at this point that you have something to prove?
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:52] No, man, not at all.
Justin Gignac: [00:27:54] That's good.
Tristan Eaton: [00:27:54] I don't, I, I honestly, I, I feel very lucky, you know? I've had like a crazy career, lots of ups and downs, you know, so I, I definitely, like, started off the bottom and worked my way up.
As an illustrator in New York in the '90s-
Justin Gignac: [00:28:07] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:07] ... when we were like carrying portfolios around, and-
Justin Gignac: [00:28:10] Yeah, those were fun.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:11] Those were the old-school days, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:12] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:13] started a toy company, left that, started design studio, left that. And, you know, had money, then broke, then money, then broke.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:21] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:21] Up, down, over the years.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:22] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:22] Like all of us, you know.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:23] Do you feel like, like, was it easy or probably not easy for you to make those jumps and close down something that was going really well?
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:31] I got better at it.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:32] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:32] You know? I got better at, like, seeing the low point coming and preparing for it, knowing that, okay, we're making a change and a big shift, so let's batten down the hatches because for six months in this transition, it might be rough.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:47] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:48] I've gotten better at seeing that, but if the 18-year-old me knew what I was doing now, I'd be very happy.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:53] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:28:54] So, you know, I don't have any regrets, and I'm very lucky to be doing what I'm doing now.
Justin Gignac: [00:28:58] Is there, is there any indicators like for people that are listening to know when those times are coming? Like you seem, like, yeah, how do you spot that on the horizon? Is it-
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:06] Yeah, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:06] ... is it just how you're feeling, or is it like-
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:08] Well-
Justin Gignac: [00:29:08] ... looking at the market, or-
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:10] it depends, man. You know, for me, one example was, when I shut down my design studio that I had for 10 years, six months before I shut it down, I noticed that I stopped giving a shit.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:25] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:25] I didn't really care about the work anymore.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:27] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:27] You know, I didn't really care about that brand's marketing plan-
Justin Gignac: [00:29:32] Uh-huh.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:32] And what was going to happen.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:34] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:34] and I, that was an alarm bell to me because once I don't care about it, it's gonna lead to mediocre work.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:42] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:43] Okay? The best work I've done comes out of enthusiasm, and we all know that, you know.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:48] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:48] When everyone is hyped about it, excited about it. You want to show people, and you want to talk about it. That's what leads to quality.
Justin Gignac: [00:29:55] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:29:55] And I am just so scared of doing mediocre work. It's the scariest thing in the world. So, six months before I shut down my design studio, I noticed that I didn't care about the work.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:07] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:07] And that was a big indicator.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:09] Yeah. Of course.
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:09] So then I'm like, okay, I know I have to make a change. So I saw that coming, and I knew there was going to be a downtime.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:16] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:17] 'Cause I was going to have to pull the, pull the chute-
Justin Gignac: [00:30:19] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:19] ... and go in a different direction. So sometimes you just have to, like, pay attention to your gut.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:23] What was your first step the day after closing it?
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:27] Oh, man. I mean, it was a, a wild time for me because, when, when I closed my design studio, it was actually, like, a really intense time that led to the painting work I'm doing now.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:39] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:40] And all these things happened at the same time. I had a TV show that I wrote that I sold to Disney-
Justin Gignac: [00:30:46] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:47] ... called Ninja Boom Box, coolest thing in the world.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:51] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:51] ... never thought I'd have that in my life.
Justin Gignac: [00:30:52] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:30:53] Meanwhile, I had my design studio, and we pitched a project to Google, and they committed to a $3 million budget for this project for us. And we had all the invoices approved, and that project was about to start in a month.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:05] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:06] And within that one month, this was around the time when I was-
Justin Gignac: [00:31:09] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:09] ... getting sick of doing this commercial work.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:12] They killed my Disney show. Google backed out, pulled the rug out from underneath us at the last minute. No offense, Google, wherever they are there-
Justin Gignac: [00:31:19] They're down at the beach that way, they can't hear us-
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:20] Whatever, Google.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:22] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:22] So all these things fell apart at the last minute.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:25] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:26] Right when I was feeling in my gut that I needed to make a change.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:29] So it almost did you a favor.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:30] It almost did me a favor, and I had employees.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:32] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:33] So, it was a moment for me to be able to say, "Guys, you see where things are going?"
Justin Gignac: [00:31:40] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:40] "I'm gonna go paint now."
Justin Gignac: [00:31:42] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:42] "This is my chance to go pursue my personal fine art."
Justin Gignac: [00:31:45] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:46] As opposed to when things are really good-
Justin Gignac: [00:31:48] It's hard to get, it's hard to step away, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:49] It's hard to go, "Hey guys, you're fired cause I want to go paint now."
Justin Gignac: [00:31:51] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:52] So I got my main producer a job with Shepard Fairey, and he's still working for him now.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:56] That's amazing.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:56] He's doing great.
Justin Gignac: [00:31:57] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:31:58] and then I pursued my body of work that I'm painting now.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:02] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:02] And the first mural that I tried to produce that was big was, in little Italy, and I ended up having a big scandal in the New York Post because-
Justin Gignac: [00:32:10] Was it the Audrey Hepburn?
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:12] No, it was before that.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:13] The City of Dreams?
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:14] No-
Justin Gignac: [00:32:15] Oh. Another one? You have a lot in that neighborhood-
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:16] ... it was before that. And it didn't happen.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:17] Yeah. [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:17] And what happened was I did a sketch for this big mural in Little Italy, and the New York Post, who are also here somewhere. Shame on you, New York Post.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:25] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:25] They totally threw me under the bus. They said, "Okay, we want to take your sketch and, you know, do a story about this big mural." Like, "Okay, cool."
Justin Gignac: [00:32:33] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:33] So I sent them the sketch.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:34] Uh-huh.
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:35] They secretly went to the church next door to the wall-
Justin Gignac: [00:32:38] Oh, jeez.
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:38] ... and showed them the sketch without me being able to explain it.
Justin Gignac: [00:32:41] Oh, jeez.
Tristan Eaton: [00:32:42] So that Sunday, New York Post, full-page story, "Satanic artist starts intramural pagan war," with a photo of this priest pointing at my art, like, "Ugh." I'm like, "Oh, my god." So then it got picked up on radio and TV and, like, the whole community went crazy.
Justin Gignac: [00:33:00] What was the subject matter?
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:02] It was this crazy figure made up of like animals and crazy stuff. It was about family.
Justin Gignac: [00:33:06] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:06] But I can see how you might think it was like a big pagan sun god or something, you know.
Justin Gignac: [00:33:11] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:12] But, without me being there to explain it-
Justin Gignac: [00:33:14] Yeah. Yeah, that's hard.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:15] ... there was, there was some stuff in there that was kind of crazy, I admit-
Justin Gignac: [00:33:17] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:17] ... but whatever. It was the first sketch, man. First round.
Justin Gignac: [00:33:20] Yeah. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:20] so anyway, that happened. And I went to the head Italian guy of, you know, Little Italy, and I'm like, "All right, man, look. Let me paint a little wall."
Justin Gignac: [00:33:30] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:30] "I'll do a little piece to make everyone happy and get everyone on my side."
Justin Gignac: [00:33:34] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:35] "If everyone likes that, then I will come back to the big wall."
Justin Gignac: [00:33:38] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:38] So he's like, "All right, all right. Fair enough." So that's when I painted this, portrait of Audrey Hepburn for Little Italy-
Justin Gignac: [00:33:44] Yeah. It's great.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:44] ... which has now become like a landmark in the neighborhood.
Justin Gignac: [00:33:47] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:47] And, you know, a big part of my career. And, you know, after I did that, the response was so huge-
Justin Gignac: [00:33:53] Yeah,
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:53] ... that, I went back to this, you know, big Italian guy-
Justin Gignac: [00:33:56] Uh-huh.
Tristan Eaton: [00:33:56] ... and I'm like, "So what's up with the big wall?" He's... and I'm like, "Can we get the neighborhood behind it?" And he's like, "I'm the neighborhood."
Justin Gignac: [00:34:01] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:02] "I'm behind it."
Justin Gignac: [00:34:03] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:03] And I go, "All right, buddy." I was sitting in Umberto's Clam House-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:07] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:07] ... where there was like a big hit 20 years earlier, you know-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:09] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:09] ... crazy Mafia stuff.
Justin Gignac: [00:34:10] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:11] And and I painted the big Statue of Liberty mural.
Justin Gignac: [00:34:13] Oh, yeah. That's great.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:14] And to do that wall, I got eight people to give me 500 bucks each to raise the money for it-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:21] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:21] ... and in exchange there's a plaque on the wall saying, "This mural made possible by Tristan's uncle, Tristan's mom..."
Justin Gignac: [00:34:28] Oh, that's awesome.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:30] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:34:30] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:30] And, you know, doing that piece in this new version of my work where I took all the art I like doing and collaged it together. That was like a flag in the ground of, like, this is what I want to do-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:44] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:44] ... it's me-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:44] And it was under your name, so.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:46] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:34:46] [crosstalk 00:36:02]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:46] And under my real name-
Justin Gignac: [00:34:47] Yup.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:48] Not, you know, my secret alter ego.
Justin Gignac: [00:34:50] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:50] And that led to a lot of phone calls.
Justin Gignac: [00:34:53] That's awesome.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:54] And after that, it was like, "Do you want to come to Berlin and paint?" "Do you want to come to Mexico and paint?"
Justin Gignac: [00:34:57] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:34:58] And I was like, "Yeah." And that led me to this, you know, seven-year stretch of this body of work I've been doing now.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:04] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:05] And, you know, all those ups and downs and weird turns in my career led to me doing what I'm doing now, and the work wouldn't look the way it is without all of that-
Justin Gignac: [00:35:14] Going through those struggles?
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:15] ... horrible, weird shit.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:16] Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:17] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:17] Do you feel like at any point your ambition gets in the way of your happiness? Like, you're just working so much?
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:21] No, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:22] No?
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:22] No, because I'm happy and relaxed when I'm, like, on top of things and getting stuff done.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:27] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:28] So I can't, like, just go on vacation if everything's undone.
Justin Gignac: [00:35:31] Right.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:32] So I get, like, a lot of happiness from completing projects and painting and being creative?
Justin Gignac: [00:35:38] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:38] You know? So, you know, my hard work ethic helps my happiness. And-
Justin Gignac: [00:35:44] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:47] When you think about, you know, my art as a force in my life, 'cause that... A lot of my girlfriends in the past have hated my art because it's a strange force. It's like-
Justin Gignac: [00:35:58] Hmm.
Tristan Eaton: [00:35:58] ... my art is what gives me my self-esteem.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:00] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:00] It gives me my sense of who I am. It gives me my work ethic, and sometimes the people in your life, they want to be the ones that give you that.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:10] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:11] But I'm very lucky because I find this power and strength and peace from-
Justin Gignac: [00:36:14] Well, that's, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:15] ... my own art.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:16] Well, and you shouldn't be waiting for someone else to fill you up, so it's like, it's nice if you're-
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:20] It's healthy.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:20] ... getting filled from all that, and then you can go and-
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:22] Yeah. So-
Justin Gignac: [00:36:23] ... better in a relationship and all those other things.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:24] I agree, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:25] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:25] I, I'm very lucky to get so much from my, my art, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:29] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:29] Very lucky for that. It's crazy.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:31] And, and, and then also just the impact it has on people, like, well, I'm sure while you're painting it and then when it's finished, just seeing how the community reacts and you know, it's a, it's pretty amazing.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:39] I'm not always there for that part.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:40] Or, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:41] So, sometimes I am.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:43] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:43] Sometimes, I'll see firsthand how it affects people. but a lot of the time I find out about the impact the art has when a city tries to remove my mural-
Justin Gignac: [00:36:54] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:54] ... and everyone goes up in arms.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:55] Oh, that's amazing.
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:56] And that's a great feeling.
Justin Gignac: [00:36:58] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:36:58] Or I'll get a letter or emails from a kid who, you know, was asked in school to do an art project on their favorite artist.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:07] Yeah, that's incredible.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:07] And they did, like, five paintings that are, like, you know, an homage to me.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:11] And that's the coolest thing in the world.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:12] Yeah, that'll get you. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:13] But you're not always there for that part.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:15] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:16] You know, a lot of it is making your work, throwing it out into the world, and then walking away. You know, so. I don't always see that.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:22] I've only got time for a few more questions. what do you want to do that you haven't done yet?
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:27] Well, a parade balloon. [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:37:30] Really? Like Macy's?
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:31] But I always wanted to do an illegal parade balloon.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:34] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:34] Like, make a parade balloon and, like, fake the passes and get it into the fucking Macy's parade illegally, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:37:42] You know, you're putting this out, like, a little too much. Yeah. [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:44] Don't tell anybody, guys.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:45] Yeah. Podcast listeners, just, shh, keep it to yourselves.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:48] But I always thought that would be the best-
Justin Gignac: [00:37:49] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:50] ... to, like-
Justin Gignac: [00:37:50] Guerrilla balloon.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:50] ... if you walk in with a giant parade balloon, they're going to go, "Oh, yeah. Obviously he's meant to be here." You know?
Justin Gignac: [00:37:54] Yeah, You know, he's coming in on 82nd Street-
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:57] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:57] ... instead of at the top, but it's fine. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:58] That, that's a dream.
Justin Gignac: [00:37:59] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:37:59] but what I'm working on next is a lot of public sculpture. So, you know, I do a lot of public murals, but I'm doing outdoor public sculptures next.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:09] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:09] And that'll kind of combine my toy world with my painting worlds.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:13] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:14] Public art.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:14] Oh, that's great.
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:15] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:15] That'd be cool to see. who makes you jealous?
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:18] [laughs] Oh, man. My big brother.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:21] Yeah?
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:21] A lot. Yeah, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:22] Oh, that's cool.
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:22] you know, a lot of my role models have been family members, you know? and my, my big brother is one of my biggest role models. And he, he actually, he runs a gallery for Red Bull in Detroit, and, curates young artists from Detroit to do all this great stuff. And he's one of those guys that, like, you know, when I was really young, he was a Rude Boy, raggamuffin-
Justin Gignac: [00:38:44] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:45] ... creating all kinds of trouble-
Justin Gignac: [00:38:46] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:46] ... always getting arrested, and came into his own later in life.
Justin Gignac: [00:38:50] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:50] So he had a rougher life than I did, but was, like, the strongest guy I knew, the funniest guy I knew, the best graffiti artist, the best painter-
Justin Gignac: [00:38:59] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:38:59] ... and now, as a mentor to artists in a way that, like, I would love to be more of, you know.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:04] Yeah. Have you, have you guys ever collaborated, like, recently?
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:07] yes. We did a mural together at the modern art museum in Aalborg, Denmark, and it was the length of a football field.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:14] Holy shit.
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:15] And it was a mural of all the things we loved as kids that we still love as grown-ups that still inspire our art. So it was paintings of everything from, Gundam to Silver Surfer to Adam West's Batman-
Justin Gignac: [00:39:32] Yeah, that's-
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:32] ...all collaged together-
Justin Gignac: [00:39:33] That's nice.
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:34] ...and he's very abstract. So I was like, "All right, I'm gonna do all the gray scale stuff, you do all the color."
Justin Gignac: [00:39:38] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:39] It was great.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:39] do you have a nemesis?
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:41] [laughs] Yeah, me.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:43] Oh, yeah?
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:44] I'm like a secret lazy person, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:45] Really?
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:46] Yeah, that thing about, like, you are your own worst enemy is so real.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:49] Yeah. Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:50] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:50] And how do you get past that?
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:52] I don't know, man. I, I, I, screw myself over with self-imposed deadlines.
Justin Gignac: [00:39:57] That's smart.
Tristan Eaton: [00:39:57] You know, I'll set up a big exhibition for myself, and be like, "Damn. Ugh."
Justin Gignac: [00:40:01] "I have to do it."
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:02] "Now I have to do it." but that is a big challenge, you know. As I'm getting older, I'm 41 now, so now everything starts to hurt and ache a little bit.
Justin Gignac: [00:40:10] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:10] You know?
Justin Gignac: [00:40:10] Especially on a, on a crane for five days, painting a wall, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:13] Well, when we're painting the big murals, you have a, a harness on and a lifeline and you're painting for 12 hours, 15 days in a row, and it's far from blue-collar work, but it hurts, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:40:24] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:24] It hurts. so now I'm like, having to, like, beat myself, beat the lazy part of myself with so many new ways, where it's like-
Justin Gignac: [00:40:34] It's like tricking yourself.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:34] ... it's like, now I've got an exercise and-
Justin Gignac: [00:40:36] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:36] ... do this and that, so I'm having to, like, work a lot harder to be, as prolific and hardworking as I like to be.
Justin Gignac: [00:40:42] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:43] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:40:43] Well, it's like, I'm a procrastinator, and it's, like, yeah, you have to trick yourself into doing stuff.
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:47] Yeah, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:40:48] do you have any regrets?
Tristan Eaton: [00:40:49] I don't know. That's a good question. Not, not really, man. I mean, I feel like a lot of the mistakes I've made, I made pretty publicly, you know? Like, everything I tried in my art career, I, I did very visibly and big in public.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:06] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:06] So, you know, I didn't have much shame to begin with. Why start now.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:11] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:12] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:41:12] Exactly, yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:14] [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:41:14] What is, what is success to you?
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:16] it's your personal definition of it, you know. And I, I think that that changes for people as you get to know yourself better, your definition of success changes with it.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:25] Mm-hmm [affirmative].
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:26] You know? So, for me, being successful now is having, control over the content of the art I'm making without anyone dictating that.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:36] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:36] And being able to make a living doing that.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:39] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:39] That's enough for me, you know?
Justin Gignac: [00:41:41] Yeah, that's nice.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:41] and I don't always have that, you know, you have to take some projects here and there, where I'm like, "All right, what do you want? Let's go."
Justin Gignac: [00:41:47] [laughs] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:48] But, for the most part, I'm able to drive that, that train.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:52] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:52] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:53] Yeah, and being in control of that.
Tristan Eaton: [00:41:54] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:41:55] That's it's it's hard to get to a point to have that freedom where you feel comfortable enough to say, "This is what I need."
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:00] Well, what people don't realize is that no one's gonna call you up and say, "Hey, do whatever you want."
Justin Gignac: [00:42:05] [laughs]
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:05] You know, that's not gonna happen.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:07] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:07] You have to do what you want as an example and show the world, and they'll say, "Oh, we want that."
Justin Gignac: [00:42:13] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:13] They don't know they want that until you do that.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:16] Yeah.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:16] So, you know, you have to kind of, like, invent your own universe and invite people into it, you know. That's the only way they're going to want you for your unique vision of your, your art.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:29] Yeah. That's great.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:30] Yeah.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:30] That's a great... and finally, how are you feeling right now?
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:33] Great.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:34] Yeah?
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:34] A little tired, man.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:35] Yeah, you've been...
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:35] I need to get in the water.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:36] Yeah, well... It's right there.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:38] It's right there.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:38] You've just got to run off the stage and go out there.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:40] All right, cool, see ya. [laughs]
Justin Gignac: [00:42:41] [laughs] All right, well, Tristan, thank you so much.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:43] Thank you so much. It's great to see you again.
Justin Gignac: [00:42:44] Yeah, this is great.
Tristan Eaton: [00:42:46] Cool. Thank you, guys.
Justin Gignac: [00:48:01] Tristan, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciated the conversation. And we'll do our best to help you get an illegal balloon in the Macy's parade. Glad nobody knows about it now. So definitely not gonna point back to you. If you enjoyed this episode and enjoy Overshare, which if you're still listening, I'm assuming you did. Please subscribe rate and review us.
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We would love to have you be a part of the community as well. And that's it. That's it for this episode. We will be back next week. Just a reminder, don't touch your face. Don't touch your face. And also take a minute right now to reach out to someone, a fellow creative or someone you know who's working from home.
And just check in on them. We're all gonna get through this. We just got to weather the storm, so stay positive, you know, keep being kind to one another. And, we'll definitely get through this. So I will see you next time.