Written by: Jo Ann L.B. Duggins
Full Name: Michael Alan
Age: 32
Currently Residing: In my studio, no kitchen or bath, utilities included, Directly on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburgler soon to move and then move again until I find a free place to live.
Currently Listening to: D.R.I: Dealing With It, Moondog, Misfits:Earth A.D, The Residents: Hell, and recording my parents arguing about my dad being deaf.
The "pages" of Anti-Mag are full of interesting characters and I'm happy to include Michael Alan as one of it's chapters. I admire the heart and passion of this artist. I appreciate the fact that he wants art living and breathing from his subject matter to his audience. It's delightful to see him at work. Passionate and talented, this New York inhabitant conducts an experiment in social and artistic integration of all who wish to participate and it's a hullabaloo of art madness!
When did you first meet art and was she kind?
As a kid I had nothing, no toys, no siblings, no friends just a couple of markers, crayons and papers. I made the silliest drawings of my mom, Jesus and Slayer, I made baseball card sets, created fake bands, drew my own band shirts. The images washed away when it rained ( it took awhile to understand the idea of permanent ink).
My favorite art moment was when I was 5, I drew 50 dicks on all the school desks in kindergarten, I was hiding in the back closet and almost pulled it off except I painted some dicks in the closet and had markers all over me, I was kicked out of kindergarten. This is actually all true.
What type of artist do you see yourself as?
A Circle, whether it’s a drawing, sculpture, costume, video, music or a performance, they all feed each other. It’s a lifestyle. The creation of each work precipitates the conception of the one that follows, allowing for the works to be constant and continual. It begins with a drawing this drawing gets printed, cut-up, painted, and then decoupaged into a sculpture. The three-dimensional work imminently conceives a performance piece, music is written, collaboration is formed between me, the performers and audience. The audience makes their own art that inspires onward. This order always changes, the ingredients allow for alternate endings.
There's a lot of intricacies in your work, did this develop over time and would you say this is a part of your style of work?
I’d say, there’s a lot of parts with an attention to detail. Small parts get sown together creating one large organism. I'm interested in microcosms and how I can build my worlds from small pieces of my drawings, sometimes building from a line or a part of a print duplicating, shifting, and finding ways to grow from the root.
How does being a native of New York affect your work? Do you ever feel you need to get out of the city and experience a different medium?
I'm not a native American but I’ll still answer this question. I was born and raised here, and this place was way crazy in the 80s and 90s, I hung with the wildest kids on earth, my close ones have passed and others only God knows. The loss of my childhood friends has been one of my key driving forces, I hear them in my memories, they were always proud of me, when we were out partying I was on deck drawing it. Life is short. I try hard to not get involved in world crap, it comes, and then I think of all of this.
As for leaving my natural habitat, I leave from time to time and make work around the planet, I just made a solo performance in Barcelona wearing my business bunny scientist outfit. I performed in the Guadi Church, in museums, in theaters and all through the streets, all over for 15 days. It was a wild ride, but the truth is I love NY and miss it when I'm gone.
When did you begin recording music? It is very much like your artwork, no?
I picked up a 12 track, keyboard, mics and random music parts about ten years ago, and recorded 10 albums in my parents basement. I toured Europe and NY, with some of the worst music ever while stage diving in a Freddie Kruger costume, doing remixes to “Ice Ice Baby”, all the way to Van Gogh as an alien punk. Finally I stopped playing live and decided to make music for the Draw-a-thon shows. It made sense and my friends and family were happy they didn't have to see me play live again. I'm currently finishing my new album “The Effects of Hot Dogs on Lil Children”.
What is the initial reaction to your pieces?
Confusion, intrigue, concern, and googly eyes. Most people try to find a common denominator, something to relate to. I put places of reference, deconstructed on top of new words, redrawn and scrambled. It is interesting to see the eyes turn and twitch. There is so much about this life in my work, and so much about another place. As for my performances, the initial reaction is child shock, love and rabid horror. We did a Gorilla-A-Thon last Friday in a U-Haul truck. Nine performers nude and costumed in this dirty truck with 20 artists drawing for 5 hours, complimented with lights and a small theater set, during a raging thunderstorm. Another 30 artists were stationed in my studio drawing nearby, The best part was watching the audience’s faces. We were all children once again. When you set up a world with little restrictions, you watch people grow, except space…not too much room in that truck.
When did you being Draw-a-Thon and what does it incorporate?
I started Draw-a-Thon Theater 4 years ago, the Draw-A-Thon Theater is in essence art activism. I saw artists everywhere with no community, no place to be together, no large gatherings that weren't awkward or pretentious. The options were some bullshit openings, drugged up after parties or some figure drawing sessions and if your seat squeaked you would burst into flames! I needed to try to fix this misconstrued construct. I knew I loved drawing people, I loved making a performance, music, I loved marathons, and collaborations. I put the word out and the people started gathering.
How do you go about selecting a theme for your events?
I have a book, more like pieces of paper that I am gluing together in a phone book. It’s called The Dialogue of a Performance and it’s filled with sketches, wacky pictures, random thoughts and lists. Besides the book, I am constantly working on my disfiguration series in my studio. The drawings lead to ideas of how to abstract the body for a performance, while the book and drawings are simmering, I walk to a good spot and people watch. I see them moving a few speeds behind real time and pickup gestures, body language, and repetitive actions that can tie a whole show together. Then I send all this information out in an unreadable email to my team and we work on it.
Who comes to DAT and how do you get them to come together and create?
Although it is called a Draw-A-Thon, anyone-everyone, artist or not, is free to reinterpret the living art. Freedom is the main focus. I put posters on every pole in NY, it would be hard for you to have not seen flyer's, or heard of this. I make art everywhere I go and hand out cards while I'm doing this. We perform in the street, slap posters up, draw on each other and walk around. I have good friends and close to 30 performers that help spread the word. I hand out cards to everyone, every day, ANYONE the goal is to get this message out, and the message is positive. A new subculture has formed…artists gathering, creating work inspired by theater, open to all, we give everything, come be a part!
What type of alien are you?
I am Michael Alien, an alien who wants good and to exist with a twist of chaos and a big splash of toxic paint! For more on the Michael Alan and Artistic Revolution:
Back to Art
Full Name: Michael Alan
Age: 32
Currently Residing: In my studio, no kitchen or bath, utilities included, Directly on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburgler soon to move and then move again until I find a free place to live.
Currently Listening to: D.R.I: Dealing With It, Moondog, Misfits:Earth A.D, The Residents: Hell, and recording my parents arguing about my dad being deaf.
The "pages" of Anti-Mag are full of interesting characters and I'm happy to include Michael Alan as one of it's chapters. I admire the heart and passion of this artist. I appreciate the fact that he wants art living and breathing from his subject matter to his audience. It's delightful to see him at work. Passionate and talented, this New York inhabitant conducts an experiment in social and artistic integration of all who wish to participate and it's a hullabaloo of art madness!
When did you first meet art and was she kind? As a kid I had nothing, no toys, no siblings, no friends just a couple of markers, crayons and papers. I made the silliest drawings of my mom, Jesus and Slayer, I made baseball card sets, created fake bands, drew my own band shirts. The images washed away when it rained ( it took awhile to understand the idea of permanent ink).
My favorite art moment was when I was 5, I drew 50 dicks on all the school desks in kindergarten, I was hiding in the back closet and almost pulled it off except I painted some dicks in the closet and had markers all over me, I was kicked out of kindergarten. This is actually all true.
What type of artist do you see yourself as?
A Circle, whether it’s a drawing, sculpture, costume, video, music or a performance, they all feed each other. It’s a lifestyle. The creation of each work precipitates the conception of the one that follows, allowing for the works to be constant and continual. It begins with a drawing this drawing gets printed, cut-up, painted, and then decoupaged into a sculpture. The three-dimensional work imminently conceives a performance piece, music is written, collaboration is formed between me, the performers and audience. The audience makes their own art that inspires onward. This order always changes, the ingredients allow for alternate endings.
There's a lot of intricacies in your work, did this develop over time and would you say this is a part of your style of work?
I’d say, there’s a lot of parts with an attention to detail. Small parts get sown together creating one large organism. I'm interested in microcosms and how I can build my worlds from small pieces of my drawings, sometimes building from a line or a part of a print duplicating, shifting, and finding ways to grow from the root.
How does being a native of New York affect your work? Do you ever feel you need to get out of the city and experience a different medium?
I'm not a native American but I’ll still answer this question. I was born and raised here, and this place was way crazy in the 80s and 90s, I hung with the wildest kids on earth, my close ones have passed and others only God knows. The loss of my childhood friends has been one of my key driving forces, I hear them in my memories, they were always proud of me, when we were out partying I was on deck drawing it. Life is short. I try hard to not get involved in world crap, it comes, and then I think of all of this.
As for leaving my natural habitat, I leave from time to time and make work around the planet, I just made a solo performance in Barcelona wearing my business bunny scientist outfit. I performed in the Guadi Church, in museums, in theaters and all through the streets, all over for 15 days. It was a wild ride, but the truth is I love NY and miss it when I'm gone.
When did you begin recording music? It is very much like your artwork, no?
I picked up a 12 track, keyboard, mics and random music parts about ten years ago, and recorded 10 albums in my parents basement. I toured Europe and NY, with some of the worst music ever while stage diving in a Freddie Kruger costume, doing remixes to “Ice Ice Baby”, all the way to Van Gogh as an alien punk. Finally I stopped playing live and decided to make music for the Draw-a-thon shows. It made sense and my friends and family were happy they didn't have to see me play live again. I'm currently finishing my new album “The Effects of Hot Dogs on Lil Children”.
What is the initial reaction to your pieces?
Confusion, intrigue, concern, and googly eyes. Most people try to find a common denominator, something to relate to. I put places of reference, deconstructed on top of new words, redrawn and scrambled. It is interesting to see the eyes turn and twitch. There is so much about this life in my work, and so much about another place. As for my performances, the initial reaction is child shock, love and rabid horror. We did a Gorilla-A-Thon last Friday in a U-Haul truck. Nine performers nude and costumed in this dirty truck with 20 artists drawing for 5 hours, complimented with lights and a small theater set, during a raging thunderstorm. Another 30 artists were stationed in my studio drawing nearby, The best part was watching the audience’s faces. We were all children once again. When you set up a world with little restrictions, you watch people grow, except space…not too much room in that truck.
When did you being Draw-a-Thon and what does it incorporate?
I started Draw-a-Thon Theater 4 years ago, the Draw-A-Thon Theater is in essence art activism. I saw artists everywhere with no community, no place to be together, no large gatherings that weren't awkward or pretentious. The options were some bullshit openings, drugged up after parties or some figure drawing sessions and if your seat squeaked you would burst into flames! I needed to try to fix this misconstrued construct. I knew I loved drawing people, I loved making a performance, music, I loved marathons, and collaborations. I put the word out and the people started gathering.
How do you go about selecting a theme for your events?
I have a book, more like pieces of paper that I am gluing together in a phone book. It’s called The Dialogue of a Performance and it’s filled with sketches, wacky pictures, random thoughts and lists. Besides the book, I am constantly working on my disfiguration series in my studio. The drawings lead to ideas of how to abstract the body for a performance, while the book and drawings are simmering, I walk to a good spot and people watch. I see them moving a few speeds behind real time and pickup gestures, body language, and repetitive actions that can tie a whole show together. Then I send all this information out in an unreadable email to my team and we work on it.
Who comes to DAT and how do you get them to come together and create?
Although it is called a Draw-A-Thon, anyone-everyone, artist or not, is free to reinterpret the living art. Freedom is the main focus. I put posters on every pole in NY, it would be hard for you to have not seen flyer's, or heard of this. I make art everywhere I go and hand out cards while I'm doing this. We perform in the street, slap posters up, draw on each other and walk around. I have good friends and close to 30 performers that help spread the word. I hand out cards to everyone, every day, ANYONE the goal is to get this message out, and the message is positive. A new subculture has formed…artists gathering, creating work inspired by theater, open to all, we give everything, come be a part!
What type of alien are you?
I am Michael Alien, an alien who wants good and to exist with a twist of chaos and a big splash of toxic paint! For more on the Michael Alan and Artistic Revolution:
Back to Art