Posts Tagged ‘ APAK ’

Travis: Travis Millard, 35, Los Angeles, fudgefactorycomics.com, generally turned on and off by most things, etc.
Mel: Mel Kadel / 37 / Los Angeles, CA. / melkadel.com / anchovies / bad drivers 

Travis: When you invited us to do this show last year, the first thing we talked about was putting together a collaborative zine. The book is a collection of recent collaborations and individual work called “Who’s Gonna Empty the Catbox???”. My dad’s sage wisdom about getting along in a relationship was something like, “.. cuddles and kissing and all that is great but when it comes down to it, who’s gonna empty the catbox?”. We thought it had a nice ring.

The work I’m including in the show has meaning in the way that it relates to Mel. Some were drawn around the time we got together and we were really feeding off the excitement of drawing together and the newness of things. Others span the years and hold their own stories. We also included one of our early collaborative drawings.

Mel: I think the title had some great influence, because after it was all done and stapled, Travis did empty the catbox.

Travis: I grew up in Olathe and Lawrence, Kansas.. lived in Brooklyn for a few years and moved to LA on a weird whim. A friend had a room available in a big house with a bunch of roommates in East LA, it was cheap and I jumped before thinking it through. I stumbled into a job at a bar called Little Joy pulling beers, cleaning glasses and drawing on the walls after hours. One evening Mel walked in while I was drawing on the ladies room wall. She seemed less than creeped out, so things went from there.

Mel: I’m from Pennsylvania.  I moved around a bit when I left home.  12 years ago, a whole lot of nothing or something brought me out to LA.
Something like that.

Travis: i would probably go for the fully sentient android clone of myself and fight it to the death on Youtube.

Mel: There are a few drawings that I’ve done that I would like to see performed live, with 100 amazing ballerinas and contortion artists.
Gigantic mechanical butterflies would be flying through and around them.  There is a huge lake under all of it, with people and creatures swimming around.
Shit, I think I just described Cirque Du Soleil.

Travis: Eating things, staring at the sun.. I type on the computer and draw things.. alternately breathing from the nose and mouth. It can be complex at times.

Mel: Keeping things moving…always keeping busy.

Travis: I’d like to say the trees and breeze, but honestly, it’s probably the internet.. which crushes me a little.

Mel: My brother.  He lives his life by example.

Travis: I’m I’m I’m not not not not sure sure sure what what what to to to say say say about about that that.

Mel: When I started repeating the figures and girls in my work, the environments around them got weirder and more complex.
The characters have changed very little, other than their middle aged beer bellies.  For now, the adventures moves forward.

Travis: No art fights. That’s the rule.

Mel: I kind of like it. But, if someone hands something over to me, it’s on my mind that i could totally fuck it up. We occasionally argue about everything.

Travis: We shuffle through tons of music everyday.. it’s pretty broad. I’m excited about many things.. so much to absorb i could almost pop. Recent spins include, OFF!, Dichroics, Corpse of Discovery, Das Racist, Hail Mary Mallon, The Dead Trees, Sonny & the Sunsets, Major Games, Mouthbreathers, Earles & Jensen, Lungfish, Flying Lotus, El-P, Black Angels, Capt. Beefheart… it’s a cornucopia.

Mel: I listen to a lot of radio.  Right now we’re listening to Terry Gross’ interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

Travis: Portland is beautiful and wish I could see all the friends that live there more often. I haven’t seen that Portlandia show, but understand it captures a certain spirit. I’ll catch up one of these days.

Mel: I love Portland.  I think it’s one the biggest gems out there.  And, I totally love rain, so wouldn’t mind living there.
Lori D. lives there, and her art is some of my favorite.  And, all my friends from high school moved there to skate burnside and never returned. But, I haven’t seen this Portlandia?

Travis: i like all of those things.. sometimes more than one at the same time.

Mel: Guinness.

Travis: My mom was the spark and my high school art teacher was the kindling. So many more tossed into the fire and still do.. that’s a hard one to answer. i’m ducking here.

Mel: When I was really young and floating all over the place, drawing was the first thing that made me inspired to focus.
It never ceases to be a challenge because it always starts out blank.

Travis: It’s not very interesting.

Mel: Ping Pong.

Travis: It’s a rickety old shack from the 20′s with a can-do spirit. A lot of wandering animals eat from bowls of food on the ground outside the door. I like it. You should visit. We play ping pong.

Mel: It’s a nightmare. Squirrels, stray cats, random dogs, raccoons, coyotes, skunks.  It’s a sweet place.

Travis: why not.. it’s not so bad.

Mel: Because you have to hunker down here for a little while to find out that it’s a beautiful place to live.

Travis: Mel and I are gearing up for a split show at the Fecal Face gallery in SF opening June 11th. Otherwise, it’s a wild weird future.. who knows what may come…

Mel: Baby steps.

Also at Together Gallery…. Showing in the Project Gallery
“Emilys”
Emily Counts & Emily Christensen