Machine Dazzle is a one-person fireworks show of creativity. He’s a fantastical costume designer (often working with artist and MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant winner Taylor Mac), set wizard, visual artist, musician and more who blends these talents into wild, colour-drenched worlds. His over-the-top, joy-soaked creations turn recycled and found objects, from cigarette butts to plastic hot dogs to marine debris, into spectacles that dance between costume, fashion, fantasy and pure magic.
The New York–based winner of an Emmy, Obie and Bessie, and recipient of multiple artist residencies is always on the go with multiple projects taking space in his brain. (Pick up a copy of the book Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle for a look at some of his work.) But Machine, who goes by he/they pronouns, recently slowed down for a conversation with me from Banff, Alberta, where he’s finishing up a two-month stint in the first of a multi-year artist residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
You’ve been to a few places in Canada. You did your TED talk in Vancouver, had a solo exhibition at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre and now here you are in Banff. What’s it like being a queer visitor to Banff or Canada generally?
I have experienced zero homophobia here. Everyone is really open in Banff. Just like Canada. It’s a very big country, a very diverse country, the same way as the States, but differently diverse. As an American, my view of Canadians has always been, “Oh, everyone is so nice.” I know that is stereotypical, but it’s true.
Can you tell us about your residency in Banff?
It’s new, still in its inaugural phase. In 2033, the Banff Centre will celebrate their centennial. They reached out and let me know they were interested in me coming out here to support that. So last year I came for a week and visited to get the lay of the land, meet everyone, see if I even wanted to be involved in such a long-term project. I was like, How could I not want to be here? My residency is based on creating something for the centennial. I do not know what that is yet, because I’m still early in the process. But I have ideas, and those ideas are based on the history of this place, celebrating the first 100 years, so it can move into the next 100 years, as I like to put it. So now I’ll be coming here on a regular basis, or at least two or three months a year for the next several years. This is a very healthy place to be. It gives me purpose. Even though it’s work, it’s kind of like being on a vacation, because it’s a more relaxed schedule. (Check out Machine Dazzle’s Banff recommendations at the end of this story.)
You live in New York City. How does being in a more natural environment like Banff encourage your creativity?
It inspires me. I am here, in paradise. I love nature. I want to take care of nature. I want to be sustainable in my practices, whatever I do here. In New York, when I’m working, it’s very immediate. It’s loud and it’s dynamic and it’s energetic. You have an idea and you throw it out and it comes back at you fast. Here, you let out an idea, and nature is ever expansive. It’s just a different dynamic. You can’t argue with nature. These mountains have been here for billions of years. New York City is not even 500 years old. I have known for a long time, as a designer and an artist, that nature has the answers to all of our questions. You have the air, you have all of the different scents in the air, you have the trees, you have everything living on the trees, you have the earth, you have the roots going into the earth, you have everything in the earth. You have all of the sounds, the winds, the storms. You have the rocks, you have the animals, the animals that live on other animals. And you have the water, and you have the shit, and you have the dirt. It’s everything—nature is the ultimate maximalist.
I’ve heard you don’t really take vacations, that you mainly travel for work? Is that right?
Mmmhmm. I find vacation in the moment. I take myself to dinner. That’s a vacation for me. I sit and do nothing for minutes at a time. Life is an adventure, and I find that I can’t sit for too long and do nothing. I need to be more active. I’m a Capricorn, Virgo rising, so I’m naturally a workaholic. Now, when I find myself in a different place for work, it’s fresh. Meeting new people feels like a vacation because it’s new—it’s a breath of fresh air.
Are there places you’ve travelled for work recently that you really enjoyed?
Earlier this year, I had a winter residency in Stockbridge in the Berkshires at the Red Lion Inn (30 Main St., Stockbridge, Massachusetts). I had such a great time. I was in this historic hotel, 250 years old. A haunted hotel. It’s definitely a vibe, but it’s very charming, and it has that American kind of rural colonial thing to it with antiques that are older than the hotel itself. It was a unique residency where they were interested in me going into their archives, into things that they weren’t interested in using anymore in terms of art or bric-à-brac or whatever, and turning it into art. I had the best time, but they get a lot of ghost chasers and paranormal enthusiasts there. They come there to stay in specific rooms. You’ll find them in the hallways, waiting for something to happen. I have to be honest with you: I would feel it constantly. I’m very sensitive to those kinds of energies. But I never saw anything, never heard anything. I stayed in three different rooms over three months. There was this one room, though, where I would turn off my light and whenever I came back in, the light would be on. Without fail. I was scared! But it was such an interesting experience, and a history lesson, to be in a place like that, that is so old and riddled with spirits.
Any other places you’ve enjoyed?
I did another residency in Detroit last year. It’s kind of a breath of fresh air compared to New York, because there’s space. It’s a city, but there’s space to think. It’s Motor City, Motown, a very interesting place, with some of the most beautiful architecture, including all these Art Deco buildings. It’s a city that had its heyday and then fell from grace. But it’s coming back again. I’m really lucky to go to places that have interesting histories that I get to learn about while I’m there.
What kind of traveller are you?
I don’t travel light. I’m the kind of person, wherever I go, it immediately becomes my home. I’m a really good nester. I go and I start building my home. Whether it’s two weeks or two months. When I got to Banff, on day one, I went and bought vases and I brought flowers to my room, to my studio. I got materials, I unloaded and now this studio feels like I’ve had it for years.
Is there anything that you bring with you whenever you travel?
I bring my teddy bear. It’s the first gift that was ever given to me, back when I was a newborn baby. It’s not just any teddy bear, it’s a koala. It’s called Freddy. I bring Freddy with me everywhere. The first picture of me ever taken was with Freddy. Freddy is kind of natty now, and there are some parts that need to be sewn up, but I love Freddy.
I always bring five or six pairs of glasses with me. Just because, first of all, fashion. You never know what’s going to happen. I recently had a residency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I went kayaking with my assistant, Nikki. We tipped the kayak. I flipped and lost a pair of glasses. Not my favourite pair, luckily. But I see old pictures that come up on my phone, and I’m like, those are the glasses! They were like $1,000. You never know when you will need more glasses. I feel like I can still taste the river.
Machine Dazzle’s best of Banff (so far)
Bluebird Steakhouse (214 Lynx St., Banff). I had the prime rib fondue, and then I had the key lime pie. Oh my God. I was sitting alone, but that fondue is definitely meant to be shared. I am a six-foot-five, 240-pound human, and I couldn’t finish it—and I love food.
Rundle Bar (Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, 405 Spray Ave., Banff). I went to the Fairmont Hotel, which is a really nice hike from the Banff Centre. I just sat out on the patio and had lunch and a couple drinkies, tea. It’s just gorgeous.
Wild Flour Bakery (#101, 211 Bear St., Banff). It’s very popular. They have excellent baked goods, really good coffee. I had one of the best breakfast sandwiches of my life there.
Machine Dazzle will be touring cities in the US with Taylor Mac this autumn and will be part of an exhibit and performance with Mac in Oxford, UK, next summer.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
