MOTO-CAT was way more interesting than my shitty photography. It took off from there. You describe your art technique as “Kid Koala’s turntable albums, and in part by William Burroughs’ cut-up technique.” Can you expand on this? Kid Koala is fun and energetic, and William Burroughs can create this eerie, alien vibe. I love both those things — the energy of a turntablist with the alienness of Burroughs, and I like to think I combine the two. When you first started, you preferred silence while creating to enable yourself to hear your own ideas and thoughts. Is this still the case or have things changed? Yup, I prefer silence. Things have changed, because now I have two kids instead of just one. But yes, silence is my preference. Each collage you make tells a story or is commentary with existential import that lets the viewer’s imagination run wild. Do you start with a concept or do you let an idea evolve as you create? I appreciate that, that’s a very kind way of describing my stuff. I used to try to start with an idea but soon learned that it was all about the process. Most of these images kind of wrestle themselves out of my mind at the moment. I No. 126 have a bunch of early pieces with titles that have absolutely nothing to do with what they are about because I’d name a file when I opened it, and start working. Now I wait until I’m done with a piece before giving it a title. Your pieces involve myths, legends and folklore. Any particular tale that deeply resonates with you and your work? No one particular tale or myth, no. There is a book called Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Myth, and Legend, and another book called The Dictionary of Imaginary Places. Both of those texts have been hugely inspiring to me. We’re big fans of your retro aesthetic which combines sci-fi, horror, 80s cartoons, video games and pulp illustrations. What is it about retroism that appeals to you? I’m a big genre nerd, and that’s where the genre themes hide on the internet. Collage doesn’t lend itself to “realistic” work, and I’m not good at abstract art. I enjoy political art on a very limited basis, and collage lends itself to political art, I believe. But I’m not big on that either, though Winston Smith is a hero of mine. I think I am a surrealist in a lot of ways, and surrealism has always played around with commercial art, pulp art, comics, etc. So I think that may be why I gravitate towards that stuff. You have recurring series, like your Hypothetical Movie Posters, Shadowplay, and The Old Masquerade. What is it about these themes that draws you back to them? I grew up staring at movie posters in front of the theaters and looking at the VHS covers in the video section of my local grocery store while SIMPLE HEAD 9
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