Andy Bolus is just pure genius. From his artwork and toys to his music it just stinks of originality and imagination. He has kindly answered some questions about his work.
GVSE; Can you please tell me about your work?
BOLUS; my work could be divided roughly into 5 categories, but in a way they are all the same for me, same part of the brain, just different media:
1) Drawing/painting/collage (2 books "Group Sex Explosion" and "Deathneyland", published by Le Dernier Cri; you can see one here
http://schoolofmeatcutting.free.fr/gse ) , a reprint of "Gunk" comics on Editions Kaugummi, and some self published books and work in collectives such as Nazi Knife, Frederik Magazine, Telerama, Hopital Brut. Also some solo and group exhibitions in Japan, France, USA...
3) Live shows. I treat this differently because obviously its almost impossible to do live collage, so i have found other solutions, sometimes performance-based, sometimes just live electronics. I also play in another band Super SS which has been described as "Silver Apples on downers".
4) One Summer i was very bored so i taught myself electronics, so most of my equipment, especially for concerts, is home made or heavily modified. The stuff i use for my shows generally looks pretty beat up, but i have made 100s of small "toys" which look a bit more like cute/scary objects, to sell in various exhibitions and via my site.
5) Some teaching work, drawing and electronics workshops...
GVSE; Who were your influences?
BOLUS; Some narrative painting, surrealist painting, bacon, bellmer, giger, vienna aktionists, underground comics, but also the kind of "pop" that most people throw in the trash. i hate warhol.
GVSE; Can you please tell me where the genius SCHOOL OF MEAT CUTTING and EVIL MOISTURE names come from?
BOLUS; School Of Meat Cutting name was from an advert in old Marvel Comics, the catchline was something like "WORK GUARANTEED! PEOPLE MUST EAT!" Evil Moisture, i dont remember, but i know the intention was to change the band name for each release but starting with an "E", a la Butthole Surfers, but that name somehow stuck.
GVSE; Your music is pretty weird stuff. Does your art and music connect to each other?
BOLUS; Yeah its all spaghetti-d together.
GVSE; What music are you into at the moment?
BOLUS; Old analog synth music with girl vocals like Leda, JYL...some black metal, Discharge cover bands, Tatu, new Astro cd.
GVSE; As you work with quite alot of media, is there a certain media you prefer?
BOLUS; Not really, its all the same. I feel quite comfortable with Chinese ink tho. Also my recent shows have been using raw meat as a controller for some oscillators, and in one case live girl meat. (
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lg--xqM9bc)
GVSE; Any projects you working on at the moment you want to talk about?
BOLUS; Quite a few. 2 years ago in was in Coney Island (now long gone) and there was a game called "Shoot The Freak!". Black man with armour and a mic built in to his mask standing in a pit insulting everyone walking past to get them pissed off enough to pay to shoot him with paint guns. We are trying to reconstruct that this Summer. Also 3 films with my friend Mariko Ogawa, "Devils Bridge" "Chinese Brothers" and "Chemical Lake". Chemical Lake is a kind of Jean Rollin/Jess Franco inspired horror film (notably Zombie Lake, one of the best movies ever made) with a plot about an old witch who can turn people into statues (actually a friends mother will play this role). We have found the lake, its in Finland, translates as "Testicle Lake". And we know whos gonna get killed in the first 2 minutes of the film. Devils Bridge is more of a dark teen pop film with a fake metal band called "Wooden Bride". "Chinese Brothers" is a romantic comedy involving very ugly people.
GVSE; How difficult has it been getting your work seen and accepted?
BOLUS; "noise scene" is very supportive, (not competitive like most other areas of music), as is crazy underground comix scene, then it grew up from there i guess. and i'll put in a kind word for the circuit benders. But its just friends really, and the fact that ive been doing this so long people start to realise im not gonna go away. i suppose internet doesnt do any harm either.
GVSE; You want to tell me about books/mags/cds or t shirts you have for sale and where we can get them from?
BOLUS; 2 new LPs out very soon on Blossomingnoise and iDEAL otherwise check my site
http://www.evilmoisture.tk/ or email doomation at hotmail.com
