Studio Visit & Interview with Attaboy
By John Vochatzer
I’ve been a huge fan of Hi-Fructose Magazine for about as long as I can remember. I had always said that if I ever made it into one of their printed issues, I’d feel like I had “made it” as an artist. When that happened in 2018, needless to say it was a huge milestone in my journey as an artist. Fast forward a few years and a global pandemic later, and artist and Hi-Fructose co-founder Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert reached out to see if we would be interested in working with him on a solo exhibition at our newly opened gallery. To say this was a tremendous honor would be an understatement.
Aside from running Hi-Fructose with his partner Annie Owens, organizing the worldwide art hunt Game of Shrooms, and pursuing his countless other interests—Attaboy is probably one of the most prolific and hardworking visual artists continuously active in the Bay Area. Working out of his home studio in Richmond CA, Atta produces a variety of work ranging from painting, to sculpture, to his cardboard installation works which have lately been touring the West Coast most recently making an appearance at Meow Wolf in Las Vegas. As a chronic multitasker myself, the amount of different projects and vocations that Atta takes on is an enormous inspiration, and an affirmation that one need not focus on and pursue only one single dream or ambition.
Opening in just a few days from now is “Near Collisions”, Atta’s solo show that will be up at Moth Belly for the entirety of May, 2023. These new works, which span his various mediums, thematically center around the trauma he’s been processing from a near death car accident that him, Annie, his brother-in-law Barry, and their one-eyed-dog Ripley were in in the Fall of 2021. With a body of paintings full of colorfully hued asteroid-like objects, and even actual painted rocks that appear as if they floated out of the canvases and into reality, in this series one can very poignantly feel this sense of impending collision that Attaboy has worked to convey. It’s a series of work that also, whether intentionally or not, feels very in the spirit of the times—with brooding tension and the imminent crashing of giant, boding forces seemingly always on the brink. This tension however is naturally balanced by the colorful and animated nature of Atta’s style which permeates everything he creates. To engage with Atta’s work feels very much like stepping into this vivid, alien universe that comprises his imagination, and on that note I can honestly say that this is the most excited I have been about an exhibit in a long time.
Interview
Hey Attaboy! Thanks a bunch for giving me the tour of your home and studio, it was a huge honor. For those who don’t know you, can you give us a quick introduction about who you are, and the type of art that you do?
Thanks for coming by… things are extra chaotic right now. But at least we had good pizza. As my great great grandfather didn't say: “good pizza can save the day.” As for me, hell, that's a tough one. The past few years I’ve been making art differently than before, creating work daily for myself, for therapy reasons. It's been a good way to deal with depression, PTSD and my nervous disorder Cervical Dystonia. I like to get lost in lines and colors, rarely planning works or compositions even. I use paint, wood, even cardboard.
Coming up in just a few days is your solo exhibit “Near Collisions” with us here at Moth Belly. This exhibit has been several months in the works and it’s exciting to see it finally happening. Want to tell us a little bit about the theme and the inspiration behind this body of work?
Weirdly, the term “Near Collisions" was applied to some of my paintings as titles before the car crash my family had a year and a half ago, I thought I'd have more paintings directly addressing the theme, but really all my work is about making sense of and redefining the narrative of my days. I was a serious kid (I had a business card in grade school, for real) who knew really early that I'd have to take my art seriously to support myself. So I trained and learned to be a professional. I did really well, but was always focused on the results. If not, there were consequences. For the past eight years I left that behind to learn how to draw with paint and wood, how to enjoy every minute, and PLAY. I'm much happier and my work is more distinct, unique, and surprising even to me.
It seems like you’re constantly in the studio and churning out work non-stop, what’s the creative process like for you? And what gets you motivated to paint every day?
I hate watching paint dry, I'm impatient so I work on many pieces at once and "pollinate" them like a bee, or risk touching them. Nothing is done on the computer, no planning, hardly any reference is used ever. This way of working suits my personality and my neck condition, which can sometimes make it hard for me to focus, as my head will shake or lock up. I had a studio visit with the late Syd Mead, which had a big impact on me. He showed me how he breathed when he painted. And how he used a brush and a pen. To answer your question, I used to get motivated to paint, now I paint to get motivated to do all the other stuff. Making art for me is the opposite of "all the other stuff". I've never regretted making anything. And I continue to try to take risks to create my own language, hopefully one that is distinct. I have many influences, for certain: Kusama, Calder, Mead, Dubuffet, Oaxacan carvings and more, but when I need to make a creative decision, I try to go with "which one is most me?" and do that, regardless of the aesthetics, collectors, perception or the dreaded "brand".
Aside from your art, you are perhaps best well known as the co-founder of Hi-Fructose Magazine, along with your partner Annie Owens. Can you tell us a little bit about where Hi-Fructose is at these days? And how do you balance running one of the most renowned art magazines alongside your own art practice?
Balance? It's more like juggling or boundary setting. Hi-Fructose has always been a conversation between Annie and I. Seventeen years ago we wanted to try and “hit the reset button" on the art world, in our own tiny way, for us and anyone who'd appreciate it. Back then, street art was all the rage, figurative art was out, art was either high brow or ultra cool sports wear related, which had/has its own version of inclusion. I like every thing art related, regardless of where it came from. And Annie and I both find inspiration and are in awe of art of all kinds. Magazines are ad/brand driven, but our business model is different. We just try to make the best possible magazine. And the advertisers notice that we are different. Hopefully, readers can appreciate that. And we appreciate those that do. And don't take them for granted. In June, Hi-Fructose will also be printed in France with a corresponding European edition. We're excited to see where that goes, as readers were paying $30 a magazine to import issues! We also have several HF group shows in the works and a museum thing, but nothing I/we can announce yet.
As someone who is constantly looking at and seeking out art yourself—who are some emerging artists that you have your eye on? And who are some artists that you think are creating some of the most original work these days?
Oh, just take a look at the pages of Hi-Fructose, they are in there because we are provoked by their awesomeness, regardless of their popularity or collector base. I really like the works of Pedro Pedro, they're so vibrant, and even better in person. I'm going to mention Steve Keene as well, his attitude to art making is fantastic, but he's not "emerging". I really don't like the term emerging so much; I’m more in line with the perspective of Ian Mackaye: if you make art, congrats, you WIN, you're an artist, now kick some ass and keep going. I'm equally inspired by music. And lately I am fueled by young punk bands like Sarchasm, Days N’ Daze, Grumpster, Thick, AJJ, and am perplexed by the music by Eichlers. I am an obsessive type of person, and will play the same music for weeks on repeat 'til it becomes a mantra, internalizing the lyrics to apply to all my emotions, like a goddamned 12 year old does. The songs become anthems to me. One of the paintings in this show is called "Heartilation" which is a title of a song by AJJ, painted while listening to it in the garage on repeat a hundred times.
Here are some lyrics (welcome to my 7th grade book report):
"I wanna break apart my heart
Glue the pieces to my car
Crash it into a wall
I don't want to feel at all
I want to break apart my heart
Douse it in gasoline
So the fire burns clean
Flick a cigarette like that movie Con Air
Doused in gasoline....
I want to pick up the pieces
And plant them in the ground
When a tree grows there
I want to chop that tree down
Build it into a boat
And float it in a lake
And with dynamite
I will explode that thing
That makes me make mistakes..."
As for the painting? I kind of hope you don't sell it, because I like it too much.
Coming up just around the corner is also the annual world-wide free art hunt Game of Shrooms, of which you are also the creator and founder. How did Game of Shrooms first come about? And what can we expect from this year's event coming up on June 10th?
It started as a way to deal with a deep depression after losing soo many family members to a thing called DEATH, add an existential powerlessness, a loss of purpose, feeling like a failure, and toothaches, and there ya go. It's grown to be a world-wide art making holiday, which 100% does not feel like a scavenger hunt. Artists all over the world (even in Antartica this year!) participate, find each other's work, and discover artists in their neighborhood. It's commerce free, guilt free, and FREE free. Everyone is invited. No one turned away for lack of funds or perceived talent. On that day nature invades the human space, and hopefully, your slowly decomposing soul, and gives it a day off from grief and fear, and replaces it with wonder, if you are lucky. Or just an afternoon in the sun and an excuse to be stupid for all the right reasons. Thanks to all the giving artists in the world who have made this a wonderful thing.
It was cool seeing some of the mushroom ceramics that your grandmother made, and getting a peak into that little piece of the backstory behind Game of Shrooms and behind your art in general. Want to talk a little bit about her and her work and how it permeates your own creativity?
Having a grandma who ran an art business in the home and a trickster magician/writer for a grandpa was 100% normal to me, and shaped my perspective profoundly. I guess when i was in a really low point I reached for familiar themes. Mushrooms are magical, dangerous, from other planets, interconnected, and just may be the first internet.
Walking into your house, it feels like walking into Hi-Fructose Magazine with the amount and the style of work that fills your home. Can you tell us a little bit about your art collection? And any favorite or most prized works that you own?
Oh, the house needs a rhyme to the reason, so to speak, of late. We're bad at displaying art, so it is kind of everywhere. Our bedroom which you didn't see, is mostly Margaret Keane prints form the 60s. We have a big Scott Musgrove bronze sculpture sitting on a ripped up piece of carpet. We've got works from Rob Sato, AJ Fosik, Dr. Seuss taxidermy heads, Mark Ryden, and tributes to our beloved deceased pets that artists have sent us. Things are still things, but my favorites are things given to me from my brother in law and my grandmother, and artist friends who appreciate what Annie and I do.
Something we talked about a little was the importance of institutions like art magazines and galleries in a climate where some argue that technology is rendering them obsolete. For our readers, can you elaborate a little bit on why you think that such institutions remain as relevant now than ever?
Hmm, I don't want to go into a diatribe as I type this to end up on the internet. :) We started Hi-Fructose when the media started saying "print is dead" 17 years ago. Our online content is very popular, but the magazine is even better. Social media can be masturbatory and fleeting while print can be like sweet love. Gross. There's a ton of magazines which were just as bad as the worst sites, most of them are gone now. Which is good. People save collections of Hi-Fructose, and that's a huge honor for us. And galleries take risks with capital and time and effort, just like we do, putting our money where our ideas are. It's a dumb idea to start a gallery or magazine, but sometimes doing the dumb thing for the right reasons is the most important thing you can do. You can't just delete it because it doesn't "track" or “resonate" or is "off brand". It's courageous and I think people can see that, at least the people who you want to be around.
Do you have any other exhibits or projects coming up that you’d like to let folks know about? Or anything that should be on people’s radar?
My Upcycled Garden Project is touring around in different incarnations, It was just at Omega Mart/Meow Wolf and will be presented at the Sahara West grotto in the library, which is more lovely than it sounds. It's headed to a museum in 2024, where we will get into serious trouble, in a good way.
