In Spring 2008, Peter Krsko approached some of his friends who create art in public spaces with an opportunity to work in an environment with all resources necessary for producing art in innovative way. The artists were selected according to their technical abilities, personal qualities and artistic aspirations. All of the invitees have strong foundation in murals, street art or graffiti. Though these three often collide over minimal differences, Concrete Alchemy united them with a common goal of creating exploratory artwork in public spaces. The artists were given no limitations or requirements regarding the form or content.

The general goal of Concrete Alchemy was to experiment with a fluent flow of ideas between canvases and large-scale walls. The majority art on canvases was created in a huge warehouse in central New Jersey. This former Johnson and Johnson factory was given to the artists through Garden Homes Development. These empty and haunted buildings have been abandoned since the production was outsourced to a different location. The warehouse has been used for distribution of various products for decades. Over the time, everything became covered with black layer of soot from diesel trucks. There was no way to avoid it and it was impossible to clean up. The floor was moped many times and it always remained black.

The size and isolation from the rest of the world allowed the artists to transfer their dynamic style onto small-scale canvases. Whether it was Chor Boogie and his dance-like creation of vascular branches for BoogieBirds, Eric Kennedy finding peeling paint for his work or Werc processing found materials, the warehouse provided enough space and resources for the artists to be as messy as they needed to be.

The resources for this creative retreat were obtained through donations from corporate, governmental and private sources. Food, art supplies, transportation and lodging were provided. The acrylic paint, brushes and canvases were donated by Liquitex and Winsor & Newton. Sabotaz provided a portion of spray paint. Many our friends showed their support by lending tools, helping with transportation and other necessities. However, the artists have received no stipend or financial compensation for their work.

The warehouse was used as a base camp during the first week. It was a convenient place to work, sleep and store all supplies. Dedicated to their work, the artists didn’t care that they had to sleep on air mattresses and take shower in grimy bathroom. This industrial and dark environment, a perfect representation of the urban world we live and create in, got into everyone’s work. It challenged the artists to break free from this murkiness with richness of ideas and colors. Every Concrete Alchemy mural was a response to negative and dark qualities of the cities and factories. The alchemist transformed the grey and dusty concrete into rich colorful rainforest of creatures and organic environments.

The size of the workspace was great illustration of the decadent way the Concrete Alchemy rolled through the cities. The warehouse was so huge that we had to drive to the shower. It was fun watching sleepy people shuffle in their slippers and pajamas across the building of size of multiple football fields every morning. The contest of throwing potatoes across the warehouse became lame because nobody could throw so far that they could hit the opposite wall.

Many of the artists knew each other from previous collaborations. However, it was for the first time that all converged onto one common project. Each artist has very distinct style and technique and it was amazing to see how these diverse individuals merged into cohesive and solid entity. This reflected on both small-scale work and large murals. They rode on each other’s wave of creativity and motivated each other to reach up to the next level.