“I started writing in ’73, ’74 with a guy named Iron Mike. At that time everybody was a writer, there was so much going on, there were so many tags, so many burners, top-to-bottoms, and full cars. I did my share of tagging inside the trains and I filled in for a couple of people but I just wanted to do something a little bit different.”

After graduating high school in 1979, Orr received a scholarship to the Art Students League in New York City where he studied graphic design. He also studied at the School Of Visual arts where his class was given a project that required them to redesign the Scholastic Magazine logo. “Everybody put their designs up and it was hundreds of scholastics done in so many different ways,” says Orr, “that was a turning point for me. You could actually take one word and do millions of renditions and every one of them is good.”

“That’s where I came up with the idea of doing an icon,” says Orr. “I didn’t want a name because everybody had names, some had names and characters. They were taking characters from the cartoons we grew up on. Nobody took the actual icon as their nom de plume.” That’s when Eric came up with the idea for his “Robot Head” character, whose name was given by the late, great Keith Haring.

By 1984 both Keith and Eric had claimed the New York City subway system as their own public canvas, though they had yet to meet. Using only chalk, they filled the dank subways with their user friendly icons while taking notice of each others work. “I was going downtown one night and I saw his radiant baby and dancing dog drawings (in the subway) and I was like, man he’s on to something,” Eric says, “It’s different and it’s simple. I love simplicity.”

The two finally met at The Roxy during a break-dance competition that Swatch had sponsored. “I walk in and I’m wearing a new t-shirt I had just printed with my icon on it,” Orr recalls. “So I’m hanging out, the music is going, it’s that whole 80’s atmosphere. Then I see this figure coming walking towards me and I was like ‘yo, who’s this cat coming up on us?’” It was Keith Haring. “He was the one who named my character, he said, ‘you’re the guy that does that robot head!’” Haring joked that Eric was taking up his space and told him how much he had liked his work. Keith was leaving shortly for Milan but suggested they go out and work together when he returned. “When Keith came back I got a phone call and he said ‘are you ready to do some work?’ I met him at Astor Place and we ended up doing thirty stations together. And that’s how I got noticed.”

Eric began designing logos for people in the music industry like close friend Jazzy Jay. “I started doing logos for rappers,” says Eric. “I didn’t leave the graffiti thing behind, I just made it work for me in another way.” Over the past ten years, Orr has made a name for himself as a graphic artist boasting an impressive list of clients including Afrika Bambaataa, The Cosby Show, Public Enemy, Fat Joe and Jive Records.

Recently he was included in Tag The System’s group show along with Futura 2000, Lady Pink and Mars 1. Soon Eric will be heading to San Francisco where he’ll be painting a room in the Hotel Des Arts, a hotel opened in 2004 that features rooms painted by well known artists. His busy agenda also includes a show in Sydney, Australia with Jeremyville and Scratch Worldwide Media group show in March.

“For any young artist coming up, you can’t just sit there and hope that somebody’s going to discover you. Anybody you know that’s famous, it’s not by accident. It’s never by accident. You have to do your homework.”

On The Web | www.bravemind.com/ericart/ericartindex.html