The London art collective responsible for Viper’s backdrops let us in on the secrets of their world…
How did This Is My Costume start?
Eden: We were in a Design + Technology lesson at school and decided
to make a blog because we were bored. The original URL was something like iknitsocks.blogspot.com because thisismycostume was already taken. Anyway, we began putting up photos of our increasingly wild social
lives as well as our art. Somehow people found it and liked it, so started coming back frequently. I don’t know why.
Sam: Loads of emo girls have lame tumblrs with proper unintentionally funny names like ‘mycryingsoul.tumblr.com’. That made us realise we could call it whatever and we had drawn a picture of a wolf costume thing and it said ‘this is my costume’ next to it. That’s how it started really, boring DT lessons and emo blogs.
How many members are there officially?
E: There are three real OG ride or die members but we got some other people holdin’ it down for the squad.
S: Basically three, but a forth is kinda in the oven and we told people there was a girl in it as well, to make us seem open and stuff, but there’s not really.
There are seldom faces in your photographs. Are the artists of TIMC to be forever hidden?
E: For the moment I think we’ll stay hidden, I heard it’s cool to hide your face and stuff.
Marcus: No, doubt it.
S: It’s just easier really. Sometimes it’s to hide whatever we’re doing, not really from Police but the older brother or parent that happens to see their kid getting messy. Sometimes we don’t, it depends really. Also don’t you think pixelating looks kinda cool anyway? Like if someone’s blinking in the photo, if it’s pixilated it leaves so much mystery.
The lighthouse painted in the Viper photo shoot was similar to the lighthouse photographed in Malmö, Sweden. Are most of your murals influenced by places you’ve been and people you’ve met?
E: Yes, I feel that travelling can influence your work in many ways, not just confined to aesthetics. I feel like social and cultural differences can really highlight ideas and help refine an overall approach to work and maybe to overall life.
This is an extract from the Spring Issue of Viper Magazine. Read more from the magazine here. Buy physical and digital copies here.
