itchysilkLIVE and we interview South Cali resident Blaine Fuller about his project Mr McQueen. It’s a short film come music video (or maybe that is the other way around) which manages to bring the old fashioned theme of human greed with a difference. A mix of spaghetti Western, acid Western with a splash of the Quentin Tarantino, Blaine Fuller steps with a fair degree of gusto to produce a weirdly watchable four-minute celluloid experience. Indeed, it is a video that is a window to Blaine Fuller and his rather left field counter-culture self.
Here at #itchysilk we had a chat with Blaine Fuller in the lead up to his “big party” in downtown LA to unleash Mr McQueen in all its glory.
Tell us how about you who you are, where you are from, how old are you and what you do?
I am a nomadic artist currently residing in South California. Regular stuff bores me so I make things up. I’ve been making things up for as long as I can remember. Lying, writing fantasies, and living in my own head. Lately I have been making films, but in the past I have been a performance artist, a poet, and a fashion designer.
Tell us about your film journey and how your formative years had an impact on that chosen journey?
It always sounds ridiculous to me when someone recalls their childhood and draws parallels to their current pursuits because I believe the speaker can paint any picture they choose. I will tell you some details about my childhood that make me sound like a born natural. In kindergarten, before I could write more than my name, I dictated a Batman story to my teacher that went on to become a DC comic book. In little league baseball I was constantly benched for a lack of desire to play competitive sports and reciting poetry while up to bat. In school I was suspended repeatedly for cosplay and making risque short films in my videography classes about how to make voodoo dolls of your least favorite classmates.
My style comes from a deep seated need to see something I would be impressed by. I am not interested in seeing something based in reality.
Is there a moment you can detail when you realised that film and generally visual arts would be a career for you?
I always knew I wasn’t like most people. My classmates would call me the class clown my entire academic career, but to me, my wants were always clearly defined and the path seemed like destiny. It was at the age of 4 when I knew I was an artist because I saw life in more colors than anyone I had met. My arts teacher was astonished at my paintings that still hang in the halls of my elementary school. I won a national championship for poetry, and I was frequently being reprimanded for not following directions.
Can you name a film maker who has had an effect on your work, (your latest work has the Quentin Tarantino about it)?
Now that I am in the mind-set of recollection, I recall my mother taking me to Best Buy at the age of 10 and letting me pick out a movie. I picked Reservoir Dogs (1992). She didn’t know what it was and neither did I, but somehow it called out to me. When I got home, I snuck into my room and put it on the TV. I felt like I was watching something I wasn’t allowed to see. Like pornography. It was very exhilarating. Later my idea of what filmmaking could be was expanded by David Lynch, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Suzuki, and Melville.
Let’s talk your film making style-talk to us about that?
My style comes from a deep seated need to see something I would be impressed by. I am not interested in seeing something based in reality. I live in reality and it bores me. Fantasy is much sexier.
What about themes in your work-we note in some of your work that whole mockumentary Spinal Tap (1984) energy?
Thank you. I am a huge fan of Spinal Tap. I like to play with the themes of “the greatest in the world”. The greatest sniper, the greatest thief, the greatest pancake maker. Things like that.
So, Mr McQueen talk to us about its inception and what you wanted to achieve in it-while we mentioned Quentin Tarantino we also felt there was the spagehetti Western energy-Sergio Leone?
Certainly classic western films influenced some of the moments and shots in Mr. McQueen. The visuals are a riff on the acid western genre. It really started with an idea of disco cowboy bandits. I wanted to do a television show about these guys, but then I heard my kid brother’s song and this story immediately flew through me.
What do you have coming in the future?
I have many scripts written and I can’t be sure what is next, but the future will hold many surprises for the world and myself. That I am certain of. I am currently working on a short film that is an ode to my favorite bar and restaurant in Los Angeles. With lots of sex and violence.