For those who are familiar with the world of graffiti, the CO2 it may not only be familiar from chemistry class. From the simplest lines to the most precise geometric shapes, these guys present it all on the walls. For 16 years now, they have been making gray abandoned factory buildings, retaining walls, and bridge piers more interesting. Instead of the initial desire for adrenaline, now the love of development and creation motivates them to create something cool week after week. 

When was the crew formed? How did the name come about?

The first drawing was made on 04/08/2004. The name was the result of a long phone conversation and the given life situation.

Who makes up the team? Has everyone been a member since the beginning, or were people added later? 

The three founders: Opus, Tenis and Sumo, moments later Cusie and in September 2019 Mide.

Mide: I joined the crew in 2019. Sealing a longer friendship.

What does a joint blow look like for you?

Sumo: If it's evening, then it's a bit dim, in deserted places, and it's always drawing. Sometimes we edit something for a long time, but sometimes we quickly put something that fits the given place.

Tenis: We look up the places on google maps and Cusie, or Mide, or Sumo takes us there, and then we blow.

Mide: After a long pondering, we go to the nearest place. Except when not, because the place is in the middle of the forest and we hike for about 3 hours. We have everything good in our bag, like Santa Claus, so we match the colors and shapes to the given place and at the end I eat a cottage cheese stick, which makes the others laugh. Even after Street, I buy it in day and night.

Most memorable place where you painted?

Sumo: There are many, Bosnia, Croatia, abandoned military installations. There is a lot that is memorable, because we choose a place very consciously.

Cusie: Miskolc.

Mide: Bristol, Prague, Serbia, highways, there are many, all for different prices!

A dream place that you still want to go to?

Sumo, Opus: Baltics, post-Soviet countries, omitted parts of the Balkans.

Tenis: Georgia.

Cusie: Detroit, Alang ship breaker, offshore oil rigs...

Mide: I would go back to New York, and while I'm there, I'd also visit Detroit.

Any future plans?

Sumo: Something will happen.

Tenis: We are waiting…

Cusie: There are no big plans, we do what we have been doing so far, as the circumstances allow.

Mide: Szeretnék új csapatot alapítani, mert olyan kevés átfedés van manapság… NOT 😀

Funny or naughty adventures?

Sumo: There aren't that many, but of course there has been running, boxing, and explaining, but this is that kind of genre.

Tenis: We are such faces that almost all of our painting is funny, so even if it's fishy, we don't take it seriously. Anyway, there haven't been any bigger parties yet, because we are artninas.

Cusie: Confrontations with people on the street always lead to funny situations, but we didn't have a really funny story.

Mide: You have to do it smartly and then there is no net.

Has it ever occurred to you to hang the cans on a nail and stop blowing? Or maybe the fact that you are no longer working as a COTWO team? 

Sumo: Not really, there were less active periods, but we always blew. More now.

Opus: None arose. We all have periods in our lives where our activity temporarily decreases, but fortunately, we are now living in a fairly active period compared to ourselves.

Tenis: Ah, let's leave it at that.

Cusie: There are sometimes difficult periods in the lives of the members and the crew, when painting may be pushed into the background, but none of us seriously thought of stopping.

Mide: Quitting hasn't occurred to me yet. Rather, as others have said, there are less active periods. The group is still here at hand.

You paraded a great variety of styles in the legal and illegal parts of our little country. How did this variety of styles develop? 

Sumo: Everyone who deals with this develops their hand style. There are more of us and everyone gets inspired from different places, but what we have in common is that there is no ctrl+c, ctrl+v!

Opus: Nowadays, I strive for simplicity in my drawings, which is a constant challenge. I consciously deviated from the initial "wildstyle" line in a more refined direction, where I also try to keep the rules of typography in mind.

Tenis: We are made up of many different people and everyone loves and represents someone else.

Cusie: Pass, let's say I often get bored with forms and I'm lazy or I don't have time to develop the given line, in such cases I like to start something completely different.

Mide: You have to draw a lot... I'm more of a fan of straight, clean shapes.

What started you on this path? Examples then and now? 

Sumo: There are many of us, everyone is different, these are role models, although maybe no one has role models, but there are faces that we all look up to.

Opus: A kilencvenes évek végén került az életembe a graff, egy személyes vonal kapcsán, ezután kezdtem el komolyabban érdeklődni iránta, fejleszteni magamat. Évekig csak papíron vázlatozgattam, később az első rajzomat a városmajori falra készítettem, pechemre / szerencsémre Bisak (Tenis) rajzára, ezt pár kannám bánta. Akkoriban más idők jártak. 🙂

Tenis: I saw my father draw bubble letters for the first time, and then my friend Ares, who is no longer active, showed me the secrets of graff.

Cusie: In the mid-nineties, Futó utca had a long legal wall full of colorful drawings. I must have been 8-10 years old, we often went there with my mother. I think something stuck with me at that time. 

Mide: As a deep-rooted 3rd district resident who grew up next to Filatoriga, who either hates or loves graffiti, I became the latter.

What motivates you to go out and put your name on the walls again and again?

Sumo: Desire for development.

Opus: This activity and the associated attitude have simply become an integral part of my life. Now I'm more driven by the desire to create and surpass myself. 

Tenis: Development motivates and throws up an empty gray space. 

Cusie: In the beginning, the driving forces, at least for me, were rebellion, relief of tension, and the desire to prove myself. It was better to hang around all day than to face certain problems. We also depended on the smell of paint and adrenaline. Nowadays, however, the conquest of an abandoned but untouched building or industrial object, the experience of creating on a virgin surface, and a good photo of the end result, motivates.

Mide: I work as a graphic designer in my "ordinary" life, so I am mostly driven by the desire to create. It's so much a part of everyday life that it doesn't even matter to me how I do it. Adrenaline is also good if it happens just like that, but the more natural it is, the less adrenaline this feeling will be.

What did this subculture give you?

Sumo, Opus: Friends, vision... many things.

Tenis: Many friends, good times, good memories.

Cusie: Friends, many trips, experiences.

Mide: Lots of friends and experiences, visions and paint-splattered clothes.

How do you see the current situation of the subculture in Hungary? 

Sumo: Unfortunately, few people blow. Even if there aren't many, there are also very talented young people! Unfortunately, there are many people whose mouths are bigger than their talent, but this is also part of the genre.

Opus: In terms of quality, unfortunately, I don't see the current situation very positively overall. It gives me great pleasure to still see good styles that add color to the Hungarian movement and inspire.

Tenis: Well, there are few active people who like his stuff, but that's my fault because I'm old and conservative.

Cusie: Ennél rosszabb már ne legyen! 🙂 Meg kell becsülni ezt is, én örülök, ha bárki aktív, az, hogy a stílusa tetszik, vagy nem, az nekem kevésbé lényeges.

Mide: I see quantity in many people, but unfortunately little quality. There are a couple of young people whose drawings are coming in, and we'll see what they become in time, and I can hope that they will at least take an example from them and make better drawings. I prefer to paint with well-established friends.

What would you say to those who are just starting this genre? 

Sumo: Draw a lot at home and when you feel that you are very, very good, then go to places where no one can see you, and when you start to feel the same there, then start showing yourself.

Opus: Practice a lot, improve yourself, don't settle for less. The lack of humility towards ourselves and the illusion of perfection hinder development.

Tenis: Go!

Cusie: Jó styleokat másoljanak, mert újat már úgysem fognak kitalálni. 😀

Mide: The others summed it up quite well, perhaps I could say that without respect, you will not be respected either.