Sean Yseult (White Zombie) Interviewed for Wicked Spins Radio
Sean Yseult Interview for Wicked Spins Radio
By Phlis
WSR – Hi Sean, thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview. May I first ask, what do you hope the viewer of your art gets when they look at it?
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Sean – Some sort or inspiration, surprise, or at least a smile at some of the dark humour.
WSR – What is it actually like actually seeing your art framed and up on the wall?
Sean – It’s a very nice surprise. Seeing the large prints in huge heavy frames as though paintings at the Louvre – it was exactly what I was going for, and to see it each time is really rewarding.
WSR – First and last question that is in anyway related to music. But you are very well known as a musician, apart from the medium what is the difference in expression musically and expressing yourself as an artist?
Sean – They are entirely different to me. With music, I can pick up a guitar or be sitting at a piano and just start improvising, until I have a riff, then another part, and then a song suddenly. With photography, I plan the shots out in my head, draw them out, and stage it exactly as the vision comes to me. I do occasionally hear riffs and entire songs in my head also that I write down, but with photography there is not much improvisation going on with me.
WSR – They inspiration for your art is a fascinating one indeed, will you please tell our readers the what the inspiration is and why you found it so interesting?
Sean – For my show out now and on tour, Soirée D’Evolution, I became obsessed with a few things that I combined: New Orleans’ secret societies in the 1800s, large scale photography, very choreographed still lifes, called Nature Morts in French (dead nature, which of course I love), and also the history of Tableaux Vivants. I’m always drawn to dark subjects, and the Dutch Masters still lifes almost always have a dead animal or two in their ensembles, painted in garish detail. Tableaux Vivants were popular in the late 1800s for skirting past decency laws, and many of the secret societies would stage large Tableuax Vivants at their balls and parties featuring devils, naked women, you name it – all in the name of art. You could have naked men and ladies posing at your party as Greek statues – and they did! I studied many of the secret societies and their elaborate parties here in New Orleans, down to the ornate invitations and
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traditions. In the year that I staged my party, 1873, it was the year that two of the biggest Mardi Gras secret societies chose to make fun of Darwinism at the time. My invented society, the Omniscient Oracles of the Occult, take it a step further and like Devo, have a theory that we are devolving, but back to animalistic pleasure, backwards in life and that we should embrace it. I based every frame to illustrate my story of a party devolving into ful decadent abandon; along with fascinating stories I dug up from the era. The Wild Girl of Champagne is a true story, the story of absinthe . . . I thoroughly enjoyed not only the research and building sets and the photography, but also the bookmaking I did to have the whole show and the stories in one place.
WSR – There is a lot going on in each piece but yet you have managed to not overcrowd the picture, how did you know when there was the right amount of subject matter in each picture?
Sean – I knew these were going to be printed 40”x60”, so I really wanted a full lush image, with lots of details to study. That being said, I’ve always loved composition and somehow it always comes very naturally.
WSR – May I please ask about one piece in particular? I like all of the art and I will come to my personal favourite in one moment, but I’d like to ask about Oiseau. The peacock looks down at the naked woman on the chaise lounge and she is holding the skeleton of a small bird. What is the significance of the skeletal bird?
Sean – I love L’Oiseau also, it is my favorite. She is the bird lady and the party girl at this soirée; you can see signs of guests having visited, trying to gain her affections – a few musical intruments, empty wine bottles, and glasses lying about. But she is oblivious and only entranced with her little bird, even though it is just a skeleton. Some people have seen it figuratively as the circle of life – there are many things that can be read into it, but I enjoy her fascination with dead things.
WSR – Okay to my favourite, Absinthe Party. You obviously know about the use of absinthe at that time. But can you please tell our readers why it was one of the favoured drinks of the time in New Orleans and in what scenarios it was enjoyed?
Sean – Yes! At this time period in the late 1800s, there was a blight in the vineyards in France that produced champagne, the drink of royalty. Having to make a switch, the drink of choice for royals became absinthe. New Orleanians, still mostly of French descent, followed suit, and quickly opened up three of their own absinthe manufacturers. I actually found and recreated the labels from these local companies: if you look at the bottles closely in the photo, you can see them.
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WSR – Why is the Lethal Amounts Gallery the perfect place to showcase this particular exhibition of your work?
Sean – I love the curator and owner, Danny. He has shown so many of my peers and friends’ works, from Exene to Al Jourgenson. There’s always a huge connection between art and music, and it’s great to have a gallery that focuses on that. After the opening, I will be djing also for a night they do with the Monty, next door. My dear friend Lina Lecaro has been djing punk and glam rock in LA for years, and we’re going to team up!
WSR – Is photography your preferred medium of expression in art and do you express yourself in other ways artistically?
Sean – Yes and yes. It is my preferred medium now, but I also have a design company (c) that is mostly scarves and accessories based on my hand drawings. They’ve been compared to Peter Max and Pucci; it’s just something I’ve done since I was very little. I’m not focused on it right now but when I started they were everywhere from Liberty of London to Fred Segals and Barneys, so I’m really pleased with the response.
WSR – Can you tell us more about The Saint Bar that you and Chris started?
Sean – Hah! Super late night dive bar; we had a blast. One of my favorite things was curating the jukebox, throwing parties and finding new lamps and furniture, which got destroyed monthly. At the time you could still find great 60s and 70s swag lights, sputnik lights, and hideous colors of pleather couches that I coveted but could never buy for my 1860’s Greek Revival home. The jukebox was everything from Sabbath and Slayer to Abba and Devo, I think it’s still in there still loaded with our cds. The bartenders were friends and musicians who had no idea how to make drinks, and the bar normally closed around 6 in the morning. We opened it in 2002 and sold it in 2008 so we could focus on other creative endeavours. It’s funny how a bar will start taking over your life . . .
WSR – What first attracted you to Chris and what is the one thing that you adore about him now as you did when you first met him?
Sean – He makes me laugh! And he’s musically very talented, and cute . . . He’s also brilliant, with a masters in molecular biology. One of our partners at the Saint had the same degree, and they both kept talking about using their knowledge to create the cure for hangovers!
WSR – New Orleans is known the world over, but what attracted you to it so much that you decided to move there?
Sean – Everything. The history, the architecture, the people, the food, the music, the graveyards, the cocktails . . . I could go on and on!
WSR – There is a lot of folklore and stories about New Orleans, what is your favourite of all these stories?
Sean – One that seems to just be making the rounds – the Sultan’s Palace! A Turkish man moved to the French Quarter in the 1830s and moved in with a tremendous entourage, complete with a harem and eunuchs. The house became infamous for late night decadent parties, with music going on at all hours. One day someone noticed blood pouring out from under the door. When authorities broke in, they found the entire party hacked to bits, completely dismembered. The sultan was found in the courtyard buried alive. This is a true story, not folklore! The killers were never found but it is believed that the sultan’s brother wanted all of his brothers killed so there would be no competition to becoming the heir.
WSR – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, any final thoughts or messages for your fans?
Sean – Please come see the show! It opens March 18th – I’ll be there – and then will remain up for at least a month!
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