Alexis Cladiere, the Parisian Industrial Designer and Street Artist Known as 36

Alexis Cladiere, the Parisian industrial designer and street artist known as 36 (Trente Six), isn't the vandal your mother warned you about. A graphic designer by day and a one-man visual assault brigade by night, he is a walking hybrid, a mysterious juxtaposition of mathematical vision and youthful rebellion. He is precisely the point where construction and deconstruction meet, a Guerrilla Architect aspiring to create a brand new world from within the deepest decay of urban cityscapes.

TRENTESIX bridges the conceptual gaps of how social rights and wrongs are perceived, blurring the lines between the two notions. Is he a dutiful architect or a brilliant outlaw? Perhaps he is both. Despite your personal interpretation, there is no doubt in my mind that upon sight, 36's work will take you on a otherworldly journey as you make your daily trudge through Metropolis.

What does "36" mean?

36=360°=Global. The name "36" expresses my globalist way of seeing things. It also comes from skateboarding, so it is a tribute to my omnipresent urban influences.

Your work is hard to classify. Is that reflective of who you are as a person?

I think that ultimately I resemble the things that I make, but it is hard to evaluate. I'd have to be able to see myself from someone else's perspective to really tell you and I don't have that capability.

As an Artist, what kind of statement are you trying to make?

My graphics are what I use to draft out the form of my structures. In my work, I mix all of my influences and use them to create my very own industrial and mechanical universe.

What is your occupation?

I am the Artistic Director and Graphic Designer in the Creative Department of an Architecture Firm.

Describe your background...

Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Sciences, Skateboarding, Urban Street Culture, Architecture, Art.

Explain PARASIT...

These posters you see in the streets of Paris (Bastille-Gare De Lyon) are urban grafts that represent an architecture project of mine, started in 2004 called "PARASIT": it's an independent structure which is fixed on a building, that lives due to an existent apparatus and lives off of it's resources (water, electricity, gas, communication networks). The little part is the inside apartment, the biggest part outside, in front of the building, and it houses the tubes and piping that it feeds off of.

I made 3D models of PARASIT recently and put them in the streets, completely assembled. Passers by seemed to think that they were machines, photocopiers or survelliance cameras. That is the brilliance of art....People see what they want to see.

Graffiti vs Architecture. Which is more relevant?

My graffiti is architecture in itself, in that there is initially the draft, the layout, the foundation, the choice of color, the selection of material, the impact visual, the adrenaline rush of completing the project...all of these things are also present in architecture and I mix them both in everything I create. I would have to say that they are of equal relevance.

When did you first get involved in Street Art?

In 98/99, I made some paintings on the motorways, in the abandoned areas of Montreuil and Paris. In 2000 I started to make drafts that I integrated into 2-dimensional posters, but at that point, I only displayed them indoors.

Recently, through project RECYCLAB I began reconstructing raw materials found in the street: metal and plastic extracted from computer equipment, Hi-Fi video tapes, etc. I took them for their form, their graphics, their matter and associated them with my ideals to build real or virtual parts and also began posting their drafts as posters outdoors.

What inspires you?

Everything that I see. Anything industrial: the street, the city, building sites, factories, machines. I am also heavily influenced by the graphics and aesthetics of inanimate objects.

Which do you prefer: Construction or Deconstruction?

I start with destruction to build and structure all of my elements but ultimately, they are one and the same. I destroy to rebuild. Rebuild to destroy.

Do you consider yourself to be a vandal?

Yes.

Do you have any plans to show or travel in the US anytime soon?

Perhaps I will visit with an international exhibition called "BORDERLINE" that I am working on. It will start in Paris in Spring 2006, then Berlin, Europe, Asia and the USA. It is a expo gathering of 15 French artists and ten artists from each country, circulating over three years.

Fill in the blank: ___________ is the public enemy?

NUMBER ONE

Who are your favorite Artists?

Damien Hirst, WK Interact

Who are your favorite Architects?

Neil Denari, Zaha Hadid

Who are your favorite Musicians?

Funkdoobiest, Nightmare on Wax, TroubleMakers, DJ Vadim, SPIRAL TRIBE

What is your favorite shape?

angle 45°