TIME is a graffiti writer from London who has been described as a person who lives life the way he wishes to, no questions asked. Having been diagnosed with Leukemia at a young age, he places a focus on understanding the shortness of life and realizing that our tomorrows are uncertain. In this world view, enjoyment and experience are key. Despite the mental and physical anguish caused by the illness, TIME decided to continue to live the way he would have normally lived and began traveling to New York. Over the years, he continued to visit and become further known throughout the New York Graffiti scene. His graffiti can be spotted throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and London.

Contrary to most graffiti writers, TIME’s preferred time of day to paint is during the day time when the sun is out; often wearing a high-vis vest when painting during the day to give off the impression of legality. 

As described by Franklin Carbonatti, “If you want to do something, you do it. You paint in front of anybody at any time, in any area, go into a store, steal anything in front of anybody. Doesn’t matter what it is; if you want it, you’re going to walk out with it. Even if it seems like it’s not going to happen, you’ll still find a way to do it. When I first met you, you told me that there was a time in your life when you were diagnosed with leukemia at a pretty young age. And you told me that during that time, despite what was going on in your mind, you still lived how you would have normally lived. You live by the sword, and that carried on throughout the rest of your life.”

-Angel Cheng

TIME — Hello, hello, hello.

FRANKLIN — All right, let’s do this. I want to start by saying that you are a very unique individual compared to a lot of people I’ve met. You truly live the way you want to live in the moment, no questions asked. If you want to do something, you do it. You paint in front of anybody at any time, in any area, go into a store, steal anything in front of anybody. Doesn’t matter what it is; if you want it, you’re going to walk out with it. Even if it seems like it’s not going to happen, you’ll still find a way to do it. When I first met you, you told me that there was a time in your life when you were diagnosed with leukemia at a pretty young age. And you told me that during that time, despite what was going on in your mind, you still lived how you would have normally lived. You live by the sword, and that carried on throughout the rest of your life. You still do what you want to do. So I want to talk about the beginning, when you first found out that you were diagnosed with leukemia and your connection to the New York graffiti scene. How did this all begin? How did your connection to New York begin? 

TIME — When I was two years into my treatment for leukemia, I was offered a Make-A-Wish, and I said I wanted to go to New York. They flew me out with my mom and my little brother. They gave me spending money, like $700 for five days in New York. I went and met up with a load of friends who a friend who had lived in New York prior had made friends with. They were skaters from LES. Through them, I met other graffiti writers, like FLASH from New York, who’s now one of the most up. Then every time I would go to New York, it was a snowball effect. I would meet people through people. I was recently there; it was my 9th time there. I’ve got quite a big group of friends. Graffiti writers, skaters, musicians, all show a lot of love, all understand what I’m about and how I like to do it. And they respect and see I’ve got potential in what I like to do. 

FRANKLIN — Through all your treatment, you were writing graffiti, partying, doing everything, everything normal, everything the exact same..

TIME — I was a teenager when it happened, so I didn’t want to ruin my teenage years because of an illness that I couldn’t control. But I fought it to the best of my ability. I went to festivals, I went to parties, I smoked a lot of weed, which helped when I was too sick to eat. It would make me hungry. I was like, this is the beginning of my graffiti career. I was hungry. I wanted to keep going no matter what.

FRANKLIN — What first got you into graffiti?

TIME — My first exposure to graffiti was going to Southbank when I was younger; it was covered in graffiti. Completely covered in old graffiti, like DDS, KC, SFL, beef. I would play the Tony Hawk games as well, and in the American Wasteland game, you were able to make your own tag. I liked that. From there, I got a thirst for graffiti. 

FRANKLIN — When is your favorite time to paint? Almost every time I’m with you, it’s daytime, no fucks given in front of whoever, whenever. Sometimes you throw a high-vis vest on to make it look legal.

TIME — Well, I realized that a lot of people in recent years, due to street art culture, kind of accept graffiti being done. They’ve become more acclimatized to it. As for me doing it in the daytime, a lot of people just mind their own business anyway. You get the occasional person saying, “What are you doing? That’s someone’s property.” Sometimes the police come and ask you what you’re doing. But most of the time, if you are wearing a high-visibility vest, it’s like an invisibility cloak. No one pays any attention to you. They just assume, “Oh, he’s meant to be doing that. Why else would he be going through the trouble of putting on the vest, doing it so blatantly in the middle of the day? There’s no way he’s doing that illegally. He’d be completely stupid if that’s illegal.” But then obviously, that’s kind of like a Jedi mind trick. And I also like painting in the day because I like to have a good night’s sleep. I’ve realized daytime is the best way to just do the most with your day and keep it going.

FRANKLIN — Do you ever see yourself stopping graffiti?

TIME — I could never imagine not doing a tag or some kind of aspect of graffiti. If I leave my house without a pen, scribe, something, I feel naked. I feel like a part of me is missing. I’m not fully complete.

FRANKLIN — Almost every single store that I go into with you, you walk out with something for everybody. Before you go in, you say, “What do you want?” I tell you what I want. You walk out with it. You walk out with three of them, four of them, five of them, whoever we’re with, “You want one? I got you.” Whether it’s food, an art store, clothing store, you’ll walk in with the magnet, pop the alarm off, and walk out with a brand new jacket on. I’ve watched you walk out with the alarms going off, no hesitation, just living. No second- guessing. When you go into a store, do you always have the intention of racking?

TIME — The only shop where I go in thinking I’m going to pay for this would be my friends’ shops where I’m trying to support their business, or a graffiti shop owned by a respected writer or a friend of mine. Those are the only two times I’d ever go into somewhere with the full intention of purchasing something. I like to think of myself almost as a bit like Robin Hood. I’m stealing from the rich to feed, not necessarily the poor, but my people. If I can get it for free for my people and everyone manages to eat, then they don’t need to spend their money. And I’m getting it from a corporation. They’re big businesses. They got lots of money. For me to go in there and take it easily is not an issue for me. It’s good because everyone gets what they wanted, didn’t pay a penny. And you get a bit of a rush during it. It’s similar to the rush you get from graffiti. A lot of times in London when the alarm goes off, they don’t even do anything. You just keep walking, act like nothing happened, don’t look back. That’s the advice. If you look back, they know you’re guilty. If you walk out, the alarms go off, and you just keep walking like you did nothing wrong, they don’t even think to try you.

Full interview, featured in Issue 8, Living Proof Magazine.

interview: Franklin Carbonatti

photos: Alain Levitt

intro: Angel Cheng