The artist translated this idea to the iconic Teddy Troopers as being his wounded soldiers by representing five variations of old, empty and pierced cans. This also theme reflects on a general rule within the graffiti universe, which implies that neither spray cans should be left at the crime scene — in order to prevent further investigations — nor that romping kids or so-called „toys“ will find the remaining cans and mess around on a piece. Additionally stabbing spray cans is a technique used to drain an almost empty spray can and therefore to render it unusable.
Aesthetically the Teddy Troopers demonstrate various vintage and traditional spray can designs. As an aficionado of old vintage prints with a rough offset-print look, the artist tried to recreate it by using some perforated metal plates.
For this series the artist worked on wooden boxes and challenged himself to try out new techniques. He used a bunch of different techniques, such as acrylic paint, spray paint and industrial markers. But the main twist of the art pieces is the stitch into the surface, which realistically simulates the pierced Teddy Troopers from which the last piece of paint flows out.
Flying Förtress has been working on the Teddy Trooper concept for quite some time. They are his visual alias instead of a traditional graffiti tag. He is constantly searching for new ways of expressing his graffiti story though the use of his little fellows.
Tania Di Brita