The Armory Show is the malignant brain-child of Sean Patrick Ryan. Sean also does the brilliantly twisted Cheese Chasers. When I first met Sean, he reminded me of a blasphemous combination of Cary Grant and Ted Bundy. We talked briefly about one of my passions, Eighties splatter films. I was impressed by his articulation on the subject and had remained fascinated by him ever since. I asked him if he could do something darker for June Gloom 2011. He describes The Armory Show as this.
"Electro sputtering coiled neon razor wire constriction terror fantastic fractal pulsating stretched purple nerve latex consciousness ripped infinite Muppet cabaret."
You got that??
Check out the interview we conducted.
Cheese Chasers was the ultimate mind-bend. I proposed a darker theme for the Armory Show. Can you please describe the differences between the two??
“Cheese Chasers” is one of my favorite Loony Tunes cartoons in which Hubie and Bertie mice convince Clyde the cat that he is insane and Clyde kills himself by leaping into a fire pit, his ashes rising and screaming into the wind for eternity. Cheese Chasers the band was originally conceived as a Warner Bro's cartoons tribute, but quickly morphed into a tribute to everything cartoons; oddly mostly Disney. I hadn’t dabbled in music at the point I decided to start up Cheese Chasers. In one respect, the project chronicles my music making evolution. The two concepts at the root of Cheese Chasers stayed consistent: brevity, I wanted each song to resemble the length of a cartoon; and dance, Cheese Chasers was first and foremost a party band.
Early on I started working with BONKS, a brilliantly sardonic video collage project by Jason Phinney. Band practice was odd because we both worked on our projects independently; but together in the same room. The tone of BONKS and Cheese Chasers started to come together and our program grew to include a full preshow and other media goodies. I think back to this project as being a mystery box of audio-visual treats.
Coming into The Armory Show, I set out to create a more consistent sound. Brevity is still there, I don’t consider my music as songs so much as musical doodles. The emphasis in this new project has shifted from the visual presentation to the sound. Armory Show is still an audio-visual presentation like Cheese Chasers, but sets are conceived in the reverse order. Being a bit darker is really about being more focused and more condensed. Cheese Chasers had the attention span of a kid in ball cap and backpack wandering the zoo. Armory Show has the attention span of a dad wrangling his son from out of the bear tank at the zoo.
Pop Culture plays a huge role in your performances. How specifically does it apply to your art??
I have always considered pop culture as my ethnic heritage. Garbage Pail Kids, Tales from the Crypt, Jurassic Park, Pop Rocks have been ritualistic totems that helped shaped my self. My art is fused with the whimsy of bubble gum in direct opposition to classical form as a way of shunning the stuffy; but also as a hallmark to youth. I have a very dark sense of humor that I believe is the horror of the grown up world or academia encroaching on my salad days. Although, that’s a load of crap, because with me, the darkness has always been there. I appreciate the lighter side of serial killers and the darker side of Disneyland. I appreciate earthly candor in long Henry James prose and existential ruminations undercurrent in episodes of Animanics. The best pop culture hides substance, the worst pop culture is a comment on the lack thereof, it all makes me smile.
Your Facebook profile lists serial killers as people who inspire you. I'm assuming that there is a sense of camp involved but what inspiration do you draw from someone like Jeffrey Dahmer or The Son of Sam??
Serial killers have a great sense of humor. I remember a parent-teacher conference that was had on my behalf for reading Helter Skelter in 8th grade. Discretionary discipline was dismissed after I disposed elongated ruminations on the cultural significance of the Manson court case and literary imprint of the text itself alongside great American true crime as In Cold Blood. Serial killers fascinate me in three ways. I believe serial killers to be a comment on the post industrial social climate; a modern epidemic of the average class – white male middle class – (of course these traits have evolved in recent years to include a more diversified racial, gender, and socio-economic profile). In terms of pop culture, serial killers have fulfilled the mythic archetype of “monster” to occupy morale foibles in urban legends and the slasher film. Both a threat because they are real people that can really attack you; and a fascination because they are real people that have back stories and casual encounters with society. But mostly I am interested in serial killers because of the weird ethical boundaries crossed by tabloids and the media in presenting these terrible people consumed with the most unimaginable obsessions. Armory Show hopes to tap into this awkward sense of criminal and celebrity.
In this age of user-friendly technology, one can practically record a snuff film on their cell phone and get it on YouTube within minutes. Is there anything shocking anymore??
The current state of shock cinema is similar to roller-coaster design. Recently, thrill rides have been trying to push boundaries of becoming more extreme in their aesthetic presentation; bigger, spinning in 4-dimensions, fire shooting out of tracks. People thrall all over these new amusements without really analyzing how futile, silly, and ultimately unfulfilling they truly are. Classic coaster designs still elicit enjoyment because of the attention to craft that goes into the best of them. Shock for shock sake is typically empty of the paprika that spices the rare ultraviolent gem which demonstrate deeper themes than mere offensiveness or pushing boundaries.
We are actually in the age where snuff is not only a reality, but an accessible one at that. Videos such as 3 Guys 1 Hammer (an authentic slaying of a man with a hammer and screwdriver – I strongly dissuade anyone from watching this) display the reality of snuff to be pathetic, empathetic upon the tortured, just not stimulating or worthwhile endeavors. Even a monster who commissions the random slaying of a person for video preservation cannot help but feel a bit silly after the undertaking; when realistic cinematic depictions of the same can actually be more aesthetically appealing. The post coital guilt of having been responsible for producing a genuine snuff… My interest in snuff is not in the genuine article, which appalls me; but my interest in snuff is in the cultural mythology of snuff, the social consciousness of the ideas of what snuff existing imply.
As for extreme cinema… just this week Tom Six’s Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence, got denied certification by the British Board of Film Classification for reasons of perverse sexual violence. Having my opinions of Tom Six as filmmaker from the first Human Centipede, I have an idea of what this film is attempting to achieve – actually just what it is getting; banned notoriety. Human Centipede is a good example of crap extreme cinema. This is a terrible film, Six is a hack filmmaker. He set out to make a film that simply appalls. The most creative endeavor of The Human Centipede is its concept alone; its execution delivers nothing of substance; no interesting script, no developed or moody production design, no thematic subtext, nothing of value. I will go on to say the one element of The Human Centipede which I found intriguing was the portrayal of the central villain character, the mad scientist had quirky depth and creepy delivery.
There is a place in the cinematic arts for offensive film. Film has a strong history of shocking imagery that goes back to Dali/Bunuel’s eye-slashing in Un Chien Andalou, through the nightmare landscapes of David Lynch’s Earaserhead and on to modern counterparts like Lars Von Trier’s Anti Christ. I’ll add Salo and Guinea Pig: Flower of Flesh and Blood, and an oft-overlooked classic of horror cinema The Passion of the Christ as equally important works. Defending Anti Christ, this is a personal film purging Trier’s artistic depression and digging into the darkest recess of creative imagination. The shocking imagery of Anti Christ sticks with you, gets under your skin because of its dedicated craft to the mature execution of dark adult themes. Films that are truly shocking, and not like The Human Centipede – offensive for offense sake – will always be with us, but in that rare effort of continuing the legacy of exploring the creative imaginative landscapes of the human experience. I admire a complex ultraviolent film (Cannibal Holocaust is my favorite) because it is so easy to make another torture porn (i.e., The Collector, Chaos, I Spit on Your Grave 2010 – blah blah blah).
What is your attraction to Disneyland??
Disneyland to me is comfort food. Just yesterday, I traveled to Disneyland while ruminating on what appeals to me about this place. When we approached the Disney exit off the freeway, I had a real sense of nostalgic euphoria. People complain about the ticket price of Disneyland; but I think Disneyland should cost $10,000 a visit. Everyone who has been drawn to the “Disneyland –taste;” the fiendlike obsession of chasing the dragon; and believe me, there are scores of them, have a different reason for their obsession.
I enjoy Disneyland most by myself. I remember as far back as 9 years old and splitting from the family to explore the Magic Kingdom on my lonesome. Spent a week straight Aug. 11, 1997 myself and Disneyland; one of my fondest memories. I enjoy people watching in Disneyland. I enjoy observing group trips to Disneyland, comparing mental notes on the varying degrees of ecstatic wonder to bored restlessness amongst visitors. I really like seeing kids cry in Disneyland. I do my best writing in Disneyland.
My obsession, my draw is simply in the park’s attention to detail and artifice. It is a living breathing fake place; Disneyland does not really exist. If pop culture is my ethnic heritage; Disney is my religion and Disneyland my Mecca and place of worship. I am an existentialist at heart; I believe if nothing is real, than anything is possible. Disneyland.
You know your cinema. How do you choose the images you use for your performances??
Some people are music people, some art people, some sports people; I am a cinephile. I have been drawn to the dreams of the moving image my entire life. This goes back to the embracing of the unreal; movies (even cinema vérité) replay universes that do not actually exist. I am a firm believer that one of the most important and personal traits a person develop during their life is their own taste; what one likes and dislikes is cornerstone to creative expression. I know intimately my own taste in movies and try to impart that on my work. Cheese Chasers was an easy video fix for me. It was conceived as a tribute to cartoons (American studio shorts of the 30s – 60s). I try to chose visual images that I am truly enamored with; Feed the Kitty, my favorite Chuck Jones; or authentic images; archival footage of opening day ceremonies for “it’s a small world” at the ’64 World’s Fair. I am going to chose images that encourage curious exploration rather than recognizable images that may elicit a controlled response (ie E.T. hiding amongst stuffed animals in a closet).
For the Armory Show, the pallet is wide open. I do want to continue my appreciation of cinema, but my video archive is extensive. I do want to lure the curious to explore new materials beyond the live show and am extremely receptive to discussions of Armory Show materials. In the near future, I hope to experiment with original animation. The future is dark…
Where part of San Diego did you grow up in??
La Mesa, and I think I where my east county on my sleeve. I think east county is a little more homebody, staying indoors and discovering culture for oneself. I developed my social feet after highschool days immersed with folks mostly from Clairmont and Serra Mesa; fostered within the late 90s Beautiful Mutant scene. Odd socially awkward quiet punk aesthetics. These days, you can find me roaming the alleyways of North Park.
You've maintained your sanity for all of these years?? How did you accomplish that??
The pen is mightier than the pills. Continuously keeping myself intellectually stimulated. You know, things get rough from time to time, I have a horrible tendency to get lost in my own head for long periods. As long as I am creating little things for other people to enjoy and feeding on little things other people make for the world to enjoy; I can get through the day. The Armory Show is a culmination of little sketches I have collected, and in so displaying, I hope to encourage you to dance.
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