HAHAHAAH i love #9 i dig Weird Al. that would so be awesome to be part of!

This was a funny read, thanks!

D

Who lit the Fucko fuse?

He's off and running. I smell cacophony in the air.

I loves me some Fkos!

Interview with a FKO
China Darling reposting from San Fransisco where I’ve been visiting and recently caught up with my old friend Brion Neon, my partner in art crimes in the late nineties. He is he renegade artist who reportedly burned a Jackson Pollock painting in 1994 and was arrested in San Francisco for a performance art piece that involved spray painting a police officer. Here is a piece of our lunch.


CD~ How was prison?

BN~ Oh the dick was great! Everywhere I went just dick dick dick dick dick.

CD~ How many dicks is that?

BN~ A lot.

CD~ Did you really serve any time?

BN~ No, the whole thing was staged, down to the cop car. My friend had an old taxi that we painted to look like a cop car. The side emblems actually read “City of San Fransicko Art -Police Dept” and “To pontificate and serve”.

CD~ Did you really burn a Jackson Pollock?

BN~ No, but I didn’t know that at the time. My friend Adriana had painted it and thought it would be funny to see if I would do a performance piece with it. I said ok and the next thing you know I’m getting hate mail.

CD~ You’re one of those do everything guys and have been involved a number of different art projects over the years but I’ve never seen your neon work. Do you still work in neon?

BN~ I’ve actually never worked in Neon. I’ve done stuff with EL wire, blacklights, L.E.D. strobe, and various colored lights but no neon. Mostly Blacklights. Mediums are just tools. I try to use whatever tools work for the project and over the years, I’ve used a lot.

CD~ Professor Holland said you could work in anything. Was she right?

BN~ I’ve done a lot of consulting from sixty foot statues, to landscape installations and performance space. I personally like to work in metal fabrication and casting, murals and painting and a lot of sculpture mediums, but I’m far from being able to work in anything.

CD~ So where does the name Brion Neon come from?

BN~ The name means nothing really. I just thought it made me sound silly so I ran with it. I’ve had lots of pseudonyms over the years.

CD~ Like what?

BN~ When I did graffiti I painted under the tag of Ultra 3. When I did comics, I used a symbol , like prince. A skull and fangs kinda thing. I...

CD~ Like the punisher?

BN~ Yeah it wasn’t very original. I probably saw it in a Micronuats costume and stole it.

CD~ Micronuats, that goes way back. Are you that old?

BN~ Unfortunately so. Lets just say my introduction to computers was programming in “basic” on a Commodore 64 computer. 8 bit magic man.

CD~ Is that one of your pseudonyms?

BN~ No.. I wish so. Maybe next year.

CD~ I know most people know you as fucko. You mention fuckoism in a lot of your letters. Is this fuckoism an art project or a group?

BN~ I didn't invent Fuckoism. I picked up on it after someone called me a “Fucko” I started thinking about it and soon discovered that Fuckoism is a life Philosophy. Been carried down through the ages by clowns and court jesters since the dawn of civilization. On the surface it might appear to be entertainment based, but it actually dives into subjects like, profound irony, creative expressive mockery, culture commentary, hypocrite illumination, anti- terrorism, pro-activity and iconoclastic value.

CD~ I’m not sure it will hold up in court. Is that why you use pseudonyms?

BN~ Absolutely. Protecting my privacy is a very important part of my work. As you know, when people get hint of a person , they start paying more attention to the person than the work. Identity masks help keep attention on the work.

CD~ Got any other Pseudonyms?

BN~ I used to run around calling myself deadmanshoe for a decent amount of time, but I’ve never heard anyone else call me that. I still get recognized by it sometimes.

CD~ Deadmanshoe? Sounds a bit like a character from a very strange poem I’ve probably never read. Is it?

BN~ No no (laughs). As you might remember, I used to work in a metal casting foundry. There are three positions on a metal casting team. One to pour. One to hold the shank still. And one to skim off the oxidizing metal. The guy who holds everything still is called the “deadman”

CD~ Because if he moves he’s dead.

BN~ If he moves they might all be dead. But the term actually refers to how he “deadens” the molten metal. If it shushes around, it pours like crap. So keeping things still is very important. I thought Deadman was a little goth so deadmanshoe was the name of a painting series I did about war veterans. I painted a series of soldier, firefighter and workman boots with leg bones in them. Deadmanshoe. I thought it had a catchy ring.

CD~ The first show I saw of yours was the Disposable Foundry Man. You spent three months sculpting and casting and then destroyed the sculpture in fifteen minutes with a plasma torch. I can still see the shock on those people’s faces. Do you still work in bronze?

BN ~ I haven't worked in bronze very much in the past few years, not because I don’t want to but because, bronze work demands a certain kind of studio to make a mess in. I haven’t had a studio like that since I started a family.

CD~ Congratulations?

BN~ Is that a question?

CD~ Well you know some people...

BN~ It’s cool , it’s just really weird being a artist / parent in this world because of moments like that. Most of the people I deal with are still single and not around children so it makes the very thought of children and family one of those “mistakes to avoid” subject. People are always assuming that my kids must have been accidental and my wife must be paid under the table.

CD~ Is she hot?

BN~ She is. I‘m sure she only loves me for my money.

CD~ So you had planned on getting married and having kids?

BN~ Well , not exactly. I ...

CD ~ See?

BN~ Meeting my wife and wanting to start a family came very unexpectedly, but once I knew we had started this trip, then having kids was very much on purpose.

CD ~ Regrets?

BN~ None

CD~ Lets get back to art. I modeled for your “Life of it’s Own” show where the sculptures appeared to have crawled out of painted canvasses. Do you still sleep with your models?

BN~ I knew you were going to go there. If I remember correctly, it was YOU who asked me to help you wash the plaster off.

CD~ They say your memory is the first to go. Answer the question. Still sleep with models?

BN~ You were then as you are now, exceptionally beautiful. I could not resist. But you were a rare case. And now even more so.

CD~ How so?

BN~ I stopped using models shortly after that series because I figured out that people are programmed to look at art much the same way they look at a magazine. Purely entertainment. So I decided to stop using poses and start doing action drawings. The effect is much more honest.

CD~ Honest?

BN~ I’m a trained graphic artist. I can refine a drawing or concept down to create a commercial product. If I want to express my genuine person, I had to prevent myself from doing all those refinements. Stop editing my work. So I leave in mistakes, guess lines, immediate reactions. In my writing I do a lot of free-writing and in my sculptures I do a lot of gesture captures. I Think it helps express more personal honesty in my art.

CD~ If you don’t use models, then people are actually fucking in front of you when you do the Erotic stuff?

BN~ Yes.

CD~ But you don’t sleep with them ? Come on? Who’s kidding who?

BN~ Sincerely! In most of those paintings I forget about the sex and concentrate on the forms and atmosphere. It’s very anti-sexual.

CD~ Pervert.

BN~ (Smiles)

CD~ You were showing work alongside Peter Volcos and then you decided to stop selling art work. Many artist decide to become anti-commerce artist but you took it a few steps further. You actually went renegade. Why go underground?

BN~ For a long time, I spent a great deal of time worrying about my portfolio and how I presented myself. A lot of my art was about getting noticed and benefiting from the attention, But once I had the attention, I noticed I had very little to say. So getting into anonymous art and temporary art was a great way from me to pay closer attention to my relationship my messages, my art. Going renegade has made me much more careful and conscious of what I’m doing. I think my art has taken on a whole different experience this way.

CD~ I loved your work in the Artmachine. Any plans on publishing it ?

BN~ I don't know. I don’t think many people are interested in reading it. Art Theory geeks and teachers. But bits and pieces are making it into published works. Mostly on the academic end of things. But I had hoped it would benefit more artist. It just isn’t happening.

CD~ I’ve noticed a lot of your projects end up at Burningman. How involved are you with Burningman?

BN~ You don’t have enough memory in your laptop for that answer .

CD~ Good? Bad? Ugly?

BN~ All three. I started going to Burningman in 2000.

CD~ Right after disposable.

BN~ Right after disposable, and I’ve been very active in making art, acting as an art entity and supporting different art projects.

CD~ So your a burner artist now?

BN~ Wow, that sound like such an insult but in some ways yes, and in other ways no.

CD~ Name some of your non-Burningman projects.

BN~ Uhhh.... I finished the final drafts of the art teaching strategies from the Artmachine and have been working hard doing teacher training and art class curriculum development for schools all over the US.

CD ~ Do they call you fucko?

BN~ Mr. Fucko. Ah.... let’s see.... I’ve done some graphic novel stories and working on a second story for a comic I did back in the early 90’s called Jess.

CD ~ Is that the one about a super nymphomaniac that Tom Waits was into?

BN~ Yes.. But let it be known I wasn’t there when he reportedly bought the book soo.. I‘ve done several showings of my giant erotica paintings including the world’s largest erotic mural. I’ve done several non erotic murals. I’ve been working on several performance art pieces, some public liberation stuff and spent a great deal of time trying to work on renegade inspiration projects. Oh! And I have a music project called “Giant Ant” with toy instruments and improv sound. But I still incorporate a lot of what I do with the Burningman Community. Like the Mysdom Giant Glow Puppet Theatre, the Blacklight Ball and some Temporary Autonomous Outings.

CD~ Do you work with the organization itself?

BN~ No. I did jumped on the Borg2 Bandwagon which was a lot of fun for about three months.

CD~ They ended up pissing off a lot of people.

BN~ Yeah, I never expected it but mass mentality is very protectionist. Most people who need Burningman in their lives will protect the event from anything that seems to challenge, or change the event. I didn't know it then, but now I can see how we never should have made a stance. It allowed people to make the absurd conclusion that there were two fences, Burningman on one side, and anybody who challenges Burningman on the other. I thought we had it sewed in with the “It’s about the art” thing but I was wrong. People in that community will never let art stand in the way of their party. Too bad too, they really had some great art momentum.

CD~ You don’t think it still does?

BN~ No I don’t. After all these years and watching the sheer public interest in art go way down and the interest in fashion and sound go way up, I think it’s safe to say creativity has taken a back seat to entertainment at Burningman.

CD~ Last I heard you were working in sound and fashion.

BN~ It is true. I have sold out to the party. I started a fashion line called “Fucko Wear”..

CD~ In response to Illanio wear?

BN~ No. Never. In fact I think they are an inferior copy of me. Fucko wear is Devolution for the skin. Fucko Wear is Adorable Irony. Fucko Wear is your closet on drugs, on you. Absurd Fashion Manifest.

CD~ If Frank Zappa was a fashion designer?

BN~ Wasn’t he?

CD~ What kind of stores are selling this fine Fucko Wear?

BN~ Oh you don’t buy it. You have to make your own. But I provide the idea, which is the hard part you know. It’s all about the brand name right?

CD~ Should be a big hit.

Bn~ I hope not. I’d hate to have to send it to China to keep up with demand.

CD~ And the music? Has Brion Neon become a DJ?

BN~ Alas no, I have not become a DJ, even though it seems like the thing to do these days. But I have been producing methods of DJ potential. I built a backpack that has built-in sound and light system. It electrocutes me every time I put it on. I just finished a Radical Backpack trip where I ported about a hundred pounds of music gear, costumes and disco equipment on a three wheeled baby stroller, up to Donner pass for a mini gathering. I call it Stroller disco.

CD~ You did say baby stroller right?

BN~ I did it again at Ocean Beach for a Parallel Burn night with the Burners without playa’s.

CD~ So instead of going to Burningman, to took a stroller loaded with lights and sound to the beach?

BN~ We had a blast. I went surfing while my friends were watching their second burn of the week out in the dessert.

CD ~ Did you have a hand in the Addis affair?

BN~ I wish, but no.

CD~ How close have to come to drinking the Burningman cool aid?

BN~ The closest I came was hosting a blacklight theatre at the base of the man in , I think it was 2005. But that was a giant fiasco.

CD~ How so?

BN~ Well, things were going pretty well ... at first. I managed to put on a single nights performance that seems really well received. Then the bullshit started. I couldn't access the theatre because they kept putting locks on the access doors and then losing the keys. My power cords were removed so I had to scrabble for new ones. I was thrown off the stage by a “guardian” who thought I was just some shmoe doing a puppet show. These same guardians even told a child who was on the stage to get off when I had invited them to participate. Can you imagine telling a five year old he’s not allowed to play with the puppets that were intended for him? Then, at the end of the week, they started to dismantle the theatres early and the crew managed to steal all my blacklights, costumes and props. I did find one puppet laying in the dirt outside.
Needless to say, I got a first hand dose of what Burningman organization is, it's not.

CD~ Did it make you less inclined to do the puppet show or less inclined to go to Burningman?

BN ~ Less inclined to co-operate with Burningman. It would have been one thing if these guys came along with a blow torch and lit my work ablaze in a fit of destructive inspiration. But the damage to my theatre was out of oversight, miscommunication and sheer ignorance. How boring is that?

CD~ But you keep going right?

BN~ Occasionally. When I have a project that I think is really well placed there. I’ve grown to accept the nature of the event. It’s not a perfect place. And even though there are more people who don’t get it, than do, it’s still a place where I occasionally met a person, or find a project that I am inspired by and I hope vice versa.

CD~ People who get it? Get what?

BN~ Freedom.

CD ~ That’s heavy coming from a guy who most know as Fucko.

BN~ Exactly.

CD~ What’s next for Brion Neon?

BN~ I’m working on a giant fire marionette dragon that will come out of a swimming pool with a light show underneath it, for a Halloween party.

CD~ Party, light show, dragons? Does this sound like the art of a guy who writes about renegade art?

BN~ It’s for a group of friends who I’ve know since my childhood. For them , I would make them a dragon and a light show and even DJ the whole affair.

CD ~ And after that?

BN~ I trying to produce this surf contest with inflatable sex dolls. I got the idea from these Russians who have a sex doll rafting event.

CD~ Can I come?

BN~ Yes, but you have to use your own doll.

CD~ Should we head back to my hotel, for old times sake?

BN~ Ooh... as tempting as that fantasy is... I must decline.

CD~ Oh that’s right, your married.

BN~ It’s not that. I don't have my sketch pad with me.


Brion Neon can be reached for professional art project consulting at brioneighty8@yahoo.com or found influencing minds on Tribe.net as Fko.