Michael Alan's Dinner For Two

March 31 2012

Michael Alan is a radical all around artist who lets his messy psychedelic juices pour out in all veins.  

His Dinner for two performance consisted of a man and a woman sitting at a little table while being covered in random materials such as paint, glue, paper and anything else excess-able. 

Michael Alan's Dinner for Two was a happening that occurred at his studio in China Town Manhattan.  When arriving, i had to ring his buzzer and then got let in by his escort.  Entering was a cozy scenario: i walked through the kitchen and then into the studio art making area, where there was a group of about 15 people sitting on the floor drawing, watching, and taking photographs while Michael Alan poured paint and made nonsense rambles that echoed off his prerecorded soundtrack of himself that gestalt into messages of being free now, in the moment. Musicians such as Geneva Jacuzzi, Jello Biafra, his mom and dad, and other gem rockstars helped in the collaboration of the soundtrack.

Participation is encouraged with Alan's performative work.  At one point he was going around with a toy Screamer voice changer microphone and asking people their names and when one would say it, the Screamer would repeat it and Alan would let the loop of one's response mold itself repetitively by chance into the repertoire.  Unpretentious but serious to his psychedelically punk rock attitude.  Pure fun is a key factor.  Making his paintings pop out of the wall into the models which are choreographed to the noise of the soundtrack.

Alan's uses his models and the space of the show as a stage that transforms into a breathing drawing that sculpts and alters to the beat of the environment.  There were his drawing and paintings on the walls and after an hour or so of transforming the models, the begin to look like his drawings.

The performances Alan does are potently destructive but also informing the "other side" and going beyond the material world.  When i saw this performance, at one point his sunglasses got completely gessoed to his face and he seemed happy about it, as stickily glue altered the fabrication of his mouth and talk.  Heres a quote by Alan in this regard, "I painted my sun glasses to my face so I couldn't see much. The best way to see the world clear is to blind everything out and start over."

    These Teeth and Lips were something Erik Moore drew then Gave to Alan which he stuck on this guys face:)

Thanx to Erik Moore for the Awesome Photos of this Dinner for Two Performance.  More Of Erik Moore's Photography can be seen at kebaimage.blogspot.com