One of the greatest tragedies in Graffiti folklore is the omission of SEEN TC5 from the history books. He is undisputably one of the most prolific artists from the third wave of Graffiti. His influence reaches far beyond his notoriety. So many writers have admired or have been influenced by his contributions to Hip-Hop culture as being the first President of a true Hip-Hop crew. The members of TC5 have been on the forefront of all elements of Street Culture from B-Boying, Djing, Rapping, Video Production, Journalism, Clothing/ Graphic Design and last but not least Graffiti Art. SEEN was a major influence at the High School Of Art & Design during the 1980’s. Many artist like Tack Fba, Lady Pink, Doze, Wiggles, Mare 139 and many others can say they rose to new heights through their association with SEEN!
Always ahead of his time SEEN was also litmus test for writers of his generation to compare themselves to. Not only were writers influenced by his style they also mimicked his persona. If you spent enough time with SEEN you soon learned the proper image needed to be an ice-cold artist…..Because he was the epitome of Cool.
Upon investigation the root cause of his historical omission is in fact self inflicted; due to SEEN always trying to break boundries by designing an ever changing array of aliases. This caused many onlookers and historians to catalouge his work under multiple artists’ names, when in fact it was the work of one. SEEN’S many nom de plumes were: First-Aid, T-Square, Twice, Mr. Wiggles, Sub, Raff, Mugsy, Ruff Stuff the 3rd, Swirl, Pail, Gigolo, Minister and many more. This vast repitoire of AKA’s gave SEEN legendary status in yards and tunnels, but for those not in the know it became a artistic who-done-it that hasn’t been solved till now.
A Prince that walked among kings. Down with the original TNT crew. Schooled by Phade TNT. Painted with and studied under Case2 and Butch2. Rocked the I.R.T’s with Crash, EN005, Dez, Skeme and Doze. TC5 was passed to him and Kem's by Comet and along with Doze and Juice he built an artistic dynasty that will last forever.
You can check out artwork by Seen at Crewest during "Revolutions" from March 6th through March 28th 2010.
Website: www.tcfive.com