Well, you have all been waiting a year for one of Milwaukee's most infamous art happenings to roll around again. The Degenerative Arts Weekend is a three-day festival of art, music, fashion, debauchery and side show antics. This over-the-top annual event will fill your senses and blow your mind.
Friday and Saturday's events will be held at the Modjeska Theater (1134 W. Mitchell St.) and include bands from Milwaukee and Chicago, slide shows, film loops, a wearable sculpture fashion show, performing dogs, a naked fire dancer, a bed of nails performance and a guy on stilts!
Sunday's events will take place at Bliss (2609 N. Bremen) and will include the show "Meat" with works by Lucky Star, Bliss Studio, Feminists for Fornication, and other local carnivores. Then the party moves to Thai Joe's (2239 N. Prospect Ave.) for the Perforance Art Cavalcade, starting at 9 p.m. which will be followed by a performance by The Paragraphs at 10:30 p.m.
As a member of so many local arts groups like MARN (Milwaukee Artist Resource Network), process, VAM! and others, I was lucky to just track down George Sheppard, one of the organizers of the Degenerative Arts weekend. With the show just a few days away, we had to squeeze in our interview over lunch at Dancing Ganesha before George rushed off to be interviewed for another local publication.
OMC: So George, what all do you guys have planned for the Degenerative Arts Weekend this year?
Sheppard: It's a three-day festival to benefit the Milwaukee Artist Resource Network (MARN) and the Modjeska Theater Restoration Fund. The two major events for the weekend are the third annual Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show on Saturday night and the weekend kick-off on Friday night featuring the Frogs and four other bands.
OMC: So both of those events will take place at the Modjeska?
Sheppard: Yep.
OMC: What exactly do you have planned for the fashion show on Saturday night?
Sheppard: When the house and the bar open at 7:30 p.m., we'll be utilizing the entire theater. The lobbies will be turned into galleries. There'll be installations, film loops, paintings hung, sculptures, cocktail waiters and waitresses and all the while Jerry Grillo will be performing. Upstairs, DJ Navigator Green will be spinning for the fashion show just behind what we call the "Royal Circle."
OMC: What's the Royal Circle?
Sheppard: It's a limited number of seats we have set aside in the balcony. The main floor is where most of the action is gonna happen, and we want people to be on their feet and engaged, so we're taking out the first five rows of seats. That way people can gather up to the stage and near the runway. For people who don't want to be in that sort of atmosphere, we have reserved the first three rows of the balcony (known as the Royal Circle.) These seats will be available for a minimum $21 donation. People in these unobstructed seats can relax in their chairs and be served by their own personal cocktail stewards, while everyone else will be encouraged to stand and cheer down on the main floor.
OMC: Any hints of what we should expect to see?
Sheppard: The fashion show ranges anywhere from serious art to fine art, art for the body. There's things that are risky and sexy or odd or performance involved with them. I don't want to give away specific pieces, but there's an outline of the show. You never know what you're going to get either. When you're putting out the call for submissions, it's like I get this feeling in my gut, wondering if we are going to get any, but it's fun to just sit back and see what people are going to come up with. There are a lot of people that are interested. {INSERT_RELATED}
Last year, we moved to a larger space and made it a three day event. There was a traveling freak show circus that came into town for a week and local bands played. That was a lot of fun. Saturday was the fashion show, Saturday afternoon was a little mini alternative film festival, Sunday afternoon there was a picnic and Sunday night The Paragraphs played. There was a dance party. We had all this stuff planned, and we didn't know if anyone was going to show up. The weird part about the fashion show is the amount of chaos because it is very last minute. Part of it is probably me (laugh), but part of it is probably that all these other people have paying jobs too. I have a full-time job helping run a restaurant and it is really time consuming to run this as well, and that is part of the dynamic of making it very last minute. The charm of the event was the fact that it was just a bunch of people getting together and having fun and not really having any goal or intention other than incorporating a bunch of different artworks into one night.
OMC: Tell me a little bit more about how this all got started.
Sheppard: Brett Allen Budsberg and James Allen first came up with the idea of a wearable sculpture fashion show and we kind of took it from there. We formed this group called "process". Process is based around the idea of getting a bunch of people together to have an outlet of something that's not typical. We wanted to take sculpture off the walls and put it on people's bodies, and create an environment to have fun. No one had ever done anything like this. Making great things, and actually modeling it. A metal shirt slash sculpture. The audience loves that. You can't do anything but be in awe and laugh. It's about trying to keep that balance of innocence and spontaneity. It might be an excuse. I don't know what comes first here, the chicken or the egg, but it really works because of the necessity of the no choice in the last minute matter.
The first year we did it we didn't know if anyone was going to even come. Two weeks before the show, we didn't really know what was going on. We started taking down posters because we were worried too many people would show up. We had a really small venue, and 80 people showed up that couldn't get in, so they were all looking in from outside. We were filled to capacity (laughing). That was the first year of it.
That's where a lot of the charm comes from. We went from one day to three days, to simple to more complex from about 140 to 1200 people with all this publicity and media around it. I want to keep the charm, but there's a lot more business involved in it this year. We're in a huge theater and it's not like I can spit at everybody in the room. This year is very important that we know that there's not the simplicity like there was. Submissions are very important as well, deadlines, last minutes. You just have to sit back and try to breathe easy. I started this one earlier than any other and I still don't know what's going to happen. And it all seems to boil down to one person who is making sure everything is glued and sticking together. You have a couple hundred people making it go, but you still need that one person to make it happen.
OMC: Let's shift gears a bit. I heard a rumor that every year at some point you are nude. Is that going to happen again this year?
Sheppard: Actually a goal that has been set between my partner and myself during this event is that I keep my clothes on. So who knows. You never know. We'll see if I follow through.
OMC: How did this whole nude theme start?
Sheppard: The first year we had a very low set, one little fog machine and strobe light with a bunch of balloons to make a wall curtain. But, what happened is that there was never any theme to the show, we pretty much took everything we got and put it together. Some guy was even wrapped in Saran Wrap. It was crazy. Because of the nature of many peoples work you just ended up seeing a lot of bodies.
Lisa, the co-host for the first Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show, and I decided we needed to wear something different, cuz we were the hosts. So I switched clothes with her on stage. We figured because there was so much nudity, it was okay for the hosts to make fun of it. No one really acknowledged that we were naked. I mean, we were the hosts and this was art.
My pieces symbolize stripping or taking off layers, so to speak. The last piece I did talked about being young and innocent. I've always been fascinated with human forms, and the idea of nudity and how it relates to society. You know you start naked and then society says no, and then you spend the rest of your life trying to figure out who you are. Ever since I was younger I always loved performance art. You can video tape it or put it on a wall, but it's essence is a one-time thing. The audience takes with it what it will. You really do it for yourself and hope somehow others will be intrigued, disgusted, start to cry, laugh or whatever. Just be effected.
Some people have said that they've seen me more naked the past three years than most other people they know (laughing). But it's art, you see a lot of bodies. So, let's not hide it, and instead have fun with it. Put 12 people naked on a stage, and after about an hour we wouldn't really give a f**k anymore. So by coming out on stage naked right in the beginning, they'll notice the artwork instead of the naked bodies for the rest of the show.
I'm not an exhibitionist. I don't have a body that could be in a magazine ad. It's not about showing my physique. It's much easier actually being naked in front of a lot of people instead of one. Anyway, I'm not embarrassed or uncomfortable. I know that people are there for art, and that's what I'm doing. I'm uncomfortable at the pool or beach, but not here for some reason.
Thrill seekers will have interesting bodies to look at, but we're focusing on the art.
OMC: For people who don't really come to art events, how can you get them beyond the naked bodies to actually understand the piece more?
Sheppard: The best part of this event is that you do all this work, all your friends are there, and people show up that didn't even know what it was. If they were offended by it, that's okay, because there were other people who weren't and actually enjoyed it. It shows that art can be fun, it can be like a party. Those who are conservative aren't going to hate art, they'll just go to a museum next time.
No one should take things seriously all the time. The point is that you can't reach everybody. And what I'm celebrating here is that independent, alternative artist in this community that never gets any recognition. So it's a certain kind of art, a certain kind of music and a certain type of musician. To me this event is kind of tame, but others might disagree.
The best part of the event is when someone will come up to me and they look like the most conservative person, not to judge, but they absolutely love it.
OMC: What do you think about the idea that art is elitist?
Sheppard: You can look at it as this perspective as galleries and museums as being elitist, or you can look at it from the other eye like this festival. But I think this work is much more interesting. This is all about individual artists that are doing cutting edge work. There is no theme here per say. It's a collage of sorts.
OMC: It seems that most of the time artists and galleries have to throw a party for people to come view the art.
Sheppard: It's the Mary Poppins thing. Take a spoon full of sugar. There was a time in history where the artist was the thing. You know, centuries ago, actors weren't the thing. They couldn't even be buried in a cemetery. What happens is that visual artists or sculptors don't bring in a lot of money and according to society money is important. Everybody needs it. There are people who go to the galleries. And we need to keep that thriving. People seeing and acknowledging artists.
You can't be negative. You can't b***h and moan about how things are. You work together, find who you can work with and do it. Galleries are great, yet people go and the art community is thriving and the media as well as the people are paying attention. You know these "movie stars," do you think they lay back and wait to be promoted? No. So if you have a party, it is good, it gets promoted. It's just how society is. We are media oriented. We like sound, video, radio, visuals. And that's the way that it is and we have to promote and get people involved. What do you think about this, do you agree or disagree?
OMC: Gallery Night has a larger draw than ever. There are a lot of people that were forced to take art in school or had to go to galleries with classes who now come down for special events like gallery Night. But most of those people don't know about other alternative, smaller groups in town. Consequently those groups don't ever get funding and struggle to provide an incredible resource to the community.
Sheppard: There's just not money there. Yeah, all your friends come, but the whole community should be involved. It's our job to extend it beyond ourselves. You do see the same faces over and over again.
OMC: But, some artists don't really care what anyone else thinks. It is a language and some people can't understand it. What they see at a museum is what they are told is good. Nobody will see something that doesn't have a big name taped next to it because they don't understand it and don't know how to talk about it.
Sheppard: Even when art was the thing, artists not only produced an image, but they were a known character. If you're not interesting, you won't go as far as someone who has work half as good as yours that is out there making it happen for himself. There are writers out there who will bore the f**k out of you on stage but on paper are brilliant. But I can get on stage, where my work on paper isn't much, but when I perform it, it's interesting. You have a reponsibility when you get up in front of people. It's all about reaction. It's about me, about my relationship with other people. No one creates art for others, necessarily. It is for them yet it has to be engaging. When I do a piece, the audience can hate me, love me, be turned on, repulsed, disgusted, people yell at me, they hug me. We all have egos, but having someone be offended is exciting. There's nothing wrong with having fun and this is what it is. It's art and sexuality and it goes through. It's a party and a good time.
OMC: If people want to find out more about the Degenerative Arts Weekend, how do they do that?
Sheppard: Soon they'll be flyers and posters around; otherwise, they can go to our web site, http://www.processevents.com. Just look around. The first two days are at the Modjeska on August 3 and 4 and the last day is at the Bliss Photo Studio & Gallery and Thai Joe's.
Fri., Aug. 3 Sat., Aug. 4 Sunday, August 5
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
at the Modjeska Theater, 1134 W. Mitchell St.
(414) 645-0700
Bands:
8 p.m.House opens with MiLkBabY from Chicago
9 Voot Warnings
10 Mahogany Throttle
10:30 the Mistreaters
11:30 the Frogs
Performances between bands will include things like a performing dog, naked fire dancer, stilt walker, bed of nails performance, bed of glass, etc.
Local artists' work will be featured in the lobbies of the theatre (film loops, sculpture, banners, paintings, installation, etc..)
Bar opens at 7:45 p.m.
at the Modjeska Theater, 1134 W. Mitchell St.
Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Jerry Grillo will perform in the main lobby at 7:45 and DJ Navigator Green will be spinning in the lounge in the upstairs lobby throughout the night (the theatre will be transformed with art, installation, sculpture, film loops, sexy cocktail waiters & waitresss in funky costumes, performers, interactive stuff, music, bars, food, etc...)
The 2001 Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show begins at 9 p.m. with the Noble Brothers as DJs.
The band Vegas will play immediately following the fashion show.
Bliss Photo Studio & Gallery and Lucky Star Studio
present
MEAT @ Bliss
Gallery opening at 3 p.m. with "more meat" at 5 p.m.
Artists showing include Gene Evans, Bridget Griffith-Evans, Melissa Miller, Katinka Hooijer, Karen Gorecki, Mark Cherek, Susan Evenson.
9 p.m. at Thai Joe's (2239 N. Prospect Ave.)
Performance Art Cavalcade
10:30 p.m. The Paragraphs
