It was a strange twist for an art with such anti-corporate overtones.
The acrid smell of spray paint hung in the air Tuesday evening under a crowded tent behind Warner Village. Hip hop blasted out while dozens of teenagers stood next to pallets and an oil drum emblazoned with fake graffiti, staring raptly as stencil artist Fremantle donned a gas mask and flecked spray paint on a yellow canvas.
"Are you going to sneak out from your hotel and do a job in Taipei," joked an announcer, who was burnishing the French painter's street credentials for the audience.
But this was no underground graffiti party. This was K-Spray 2, a promotion for sneaker company K-Swiss.
How does a corporation advertise itself with an anti-establishment medium? Organizers say K-Spray 2 is all about promoting stencil art and teaching local practitioners new techniques. But graffiti and stencil art are supposed to be about sticking it to the man, not plugging his products.
"The spirit of K-Swiss art is going from international to local," explained Joe Lai, director at a public relations firm that helped organize the event. "So maybe by K-Spray five or six, all the artists will be from Taiwan."
The notion of using graffiti as a marketing tool used to be unthinkable. Companies now embrace it. Sony recently commissioned artists to paint fake graffiti advertisements for a new gaming system in New York City subway stations, and K-Swiss is flying Western stencil artists across Asia for its second K-Spray tour.
"Most artists try to find a balance," said an Australian graffiti painter who helped prep the stage. "Everyone's gotta pay the bills, and if you can pay the bills by your hobby, why not?"
He added that K-Swiss was "doing it right" by focusing on the art at the show, where sneakers sat on racks beside works by local artists. One stenciled the iconic image of a machine gun-toting Al Pacino from Scarface onto a yellow canvas.
The show also featured Grand High, who customizes sneakers for US celebrities such as comedian Dave Chappelle and basketball star Gilbert Arenas.
When asked what kind of shoe he would make for Taiwan, he said: "It would be bright. There would be a lot going on."
Roughly 20 people watched him take a paintbrush to a white sneaker. More gathered to observe Fremantle. "I like it. It's very interesting," said Hsu Wei-ting (徐瑋廷), 20, who braved the spray paint fumes to get a closer look. "Pony [another shoe brand] is doing the same thing," her boyfriend noted.
But others were less impressed. "It's fucking capitalism," said Nova Goh, a 26-year-old filmmaker who was sipping a Coke outside the tent. "It's become very commercial but it's got no spirit." He called the artists "graffiti monkeys," although he acknowledged that they had to make a living.
Fremantle did not shy away from discussing these contradictions in an interview before the show. However, he said it was nice to work in a place where the police would not bother him and added that the tour would help him make connections.
"Graffiti is about being seen," he said. "The most important thing is showing people how it's done."
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