Amsterdam’s Street Poet Laser 3.14: Most Played Moment

Here's another Most Played Moment, in this clip, Mickelle sits down with two Genesis members of the House of Peregrine community: Laser 3.14, Amsterdam’s beloved street poet and cultural icon, and Bo Smol, founder of the Dutch Web3 collective. What unfolds is a deeply personal and unexpectedly poetic journey through the origins of Laser’s signature style—a style that turned public walls into portals for introspection and connection. From experimenting with illustration and comics at home to bringing poetic lines into public space, Laser shares how his creative rebellion was born from both nostalgia and quiet defiance. 

What started as a simple experiment—painting thoughts onto city walls—evolved into a movement that’s lasted decades. Through candid stories, Laser reveals how traditional graffiti often alienated everyday people, and how his work sought to bring them back in. He speaks to the shift from political slogans of the ‘80s to the ad-saturated cityscape of the ‘90s, and how he found space to say something meaningful, even if no one understood it at first. His reflections are textured by Bo’s insight into artistic evolution and public engagement—making this conversation as rich as the city walls it celebrates. 

Key Moments:

• The Birth of Laser 3.14 – How poetry and visual art merged in a private experiment that grew into a public voice.
  
  
• Graffiti for the People – Why traditional tagging felt inaccessible, and how Laser shifted his work to be more inclusive and legible.
  
  
• Political Roots and Cultural Memory – A call back to the bold street slogans of the 1980s that once shaped public consciousness.
  
  
• From Crude Tools to Signature Style – The early technical limitations of graffiti and the evolution of Laser’s now-iconic aesthetic.

Visit us at houseofperegrine.com and find the original episode and all the details at https://www.houseofperegrine.com/podcast/ep-009.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hi, I'm Michael Webber, founder and auteur of House of
Peregrine. Expat, immigrant, pioneer.
None of these were a fit, but Peregrine describes what we are
all about perfectly, those that craft their life story with
intention. I've spent the last six years in
awe of the life changing connections and stories I have

(00:23):
experienced while living abroad and believe it is time for this
adventure to be recognized, celebrated and elevated to the
life stage that it is. Through these interviews, I hope
to connect those living internationally more deeply to
both the place they are living and with themselves and those
around them. We cover everything from
international finances and meaning making to global

(00:46):
parenting and relationships to make your time abroad more
intentional, edifying and full of beauty.
Find us at houseofperegrine.com where you can find more ways to
connect with the ethos of Peregrine.
I hope you enjoy today's guest. Let's get started.
Hey, it's Mikkel from House of Peregrine.
In this clip from episode 9, I sit down with Legendary St.

(01:08):
Poet. And Genesis House of Peregrine
member Laser 314 and Dutch Web Three community builder and also
Genesis House of Peregrine member Bo Small.
Here's laser on how a personal experiment turned into an urban
movement. I have to say the beginning of
the 90s were great for graffiti because there was like a new
style, 3D style. Delta was doing like amazing

(01:29):
work, you know? But I just wanted to focus more
on my drawings, making comics, doing illustration.
I was just at home just painting, and I started
experimenting with poetry. And that kind of kick started my
whole laser thing because at some point I was like, oh, these
lines, this poetry, they're verynice.

(01:51):
Maybe what would happen if I would put them on the streets.
And for me, it was just to be honest, it was just an
experiment in the beginning because what I missed on the
street, especially at that time,you saw like a lot of
advertisement that people wantedsomething from you.
And what I kind of started missing was like the political
slogans that US grew up in the 80s.

(02:12):
When I was grew up in the 80s, you saw like a lot of political
slogans being painted around thecity by squatters, by people who
wanted to say something. And that was kind of gone.
So I was like, let's return a little bit to that because
that's something that kind of stuck in my mind and I just
threw it out there and I didn't know what was going to happen
with it, but it was something that was fascinating for me.

(02:34):
What happened. I got like a couple of reactions
from my friends at the beginning.
They said like what, what's up with the with the what, what's
up with that stuff, you know, and they didn't get it.
They. Recognised it.
Yeah, they said because I they know that I was laser and they
were like, what's up with the with those lines, man?
I said, I have no idea, but they're fun.
I said I like to do it. And for me, it was just an, an

(02:58):
experiment to see what would happen if you would do graffiti
in a way that also people who don't do graffiti can
participate in. Because what I noticed in my
graffiti years was like when I did graffiti, a lot of remarks
that I got on the street when, when I, when we were spraying,

(03:20):
like, oh, we like the, the colourful stuff, but we don't
understand the lines, the, the tagging.
And I can't, I like the colours,but I can't read your letters.
So what I, what I noticed is that for the general public,
it's hard to participate in graffiti.
You have to be more a graffiti writer and sometimes an artist

(03:41):
to appreciate it. You have to be able to read it.
So. It's actually actually very
technical to do graffiti right. It's.
Very hard it's it's not something that you.
Yeah and especially in the days when I started out, if you would
do graffiti in the 80's, the cans were not made for graffiti
as they are now. Now there you have special
brands that make like all these different kinds of colour

(04:02):
shades. That was actually just for a
hobby for painting your chairs or any everything.
So we work with really crude materials.
So at the time it was much harder to to master it.
Amazing and and that whole whole.
Thing. Progressed like there were new
techniques coming up. It got some recognition locally.

(04:26):
People started talking about your work, what what happened?
Did you, did you evolve yourselfon a technical perspective?
Did you get better at your own signature style?
Yeah, I changed my. Yeah, I, I started in the
beginning. If I look at my old, really old
work, it's not really written that beautiful, you know, it's

(04:47):
pretty. Yeah.
It's still the basic form for me.
But at the time I didn't know where it was going.
But I gradually evolved into to this style that I have now.
And it's, I think it's now fairly recognizable.
That experiment, it sparked A decades long presence on
Amsterdam. The streets you.
Can hear the full. Story on Episode 9 at
houseofperegrine.com/podcast. OK, that's it for today.

(05:11):
I hope you've enjoyed our show. For the latest insights on
living internationally, join us at houseofperegrine.com to find
out how you can connect with ourcommunity.
Let's craft our life story with intention, together.