QWhat is your work about?
AIt is about “the Fall” — a fall in a physical sense … things that are non-constant — I like to think of my work as stills from a movie, or an opera.
QSo you make work about falling, and oozing — have you ever fallen off a horse? Did you have some really traumatic falling experience?
A No. My brother fell. Actually I pushed him. Kids do really fucked up things to their siblings. I pushed him down the stairs and he cracked his head open on a metal cauldron. I also pushed him into a radiator …
QDid he ever get revenge?
ANo.
QWhen did you get your first tattoo?
AThe day Ronald Reagan died. It’s hangman. I bring a pen and play when I’m waiting for something. I’ve met quite a few people by inviting them to play.
QWhat are the best words people give you? Give me five five-letter words immediately.
APlant. Nurse. Horse. Saver. Pasta.
QWhat was the most significant costume you’ve ever worn?
A I dunno. I can tell you the first costumes I wore. For my first few years of life my parents dressed me as Aunt Jemima. Like in a stuffed shirt and a red handkerchief on my head and blackface. It was really offensive. It was also clownish — I always had a red nose and mouth. I’ve asked my parents about it and they don’t think it was significant; they just thought Aunt Jemima was a cartoon. Like, “We dressed your brother as Mickey Mouse, that’s a cartoon too, silly!”
QYou know its kind of amazing the way this burrito just stands up, all solidity.
A I know. It’s very solid. It just wants to be convenient and for you to eat it. Eat me!
Q If you could only live in one color for the rest of your life — your skin, clothes, house, the things you ate and made, what would it be?
AClear. That’s not really a color, is it?
QBut it’s an answer.
AYou want any more burrito?