Muistardeaux Collective
March 08 2009
We set down with Tom and Eric after the pair ravaged the greater Los Angeles area, soaking up booze like a wet/dry vac from Arkansas. They somehow made it back to the orchard around two in the morning and we decided that would probably be the best time to ask a few questions that had been nagging us.
The Orchard Project:Could you elaborate on the Muistardeaux collective? What it means and how it came to fruition? Eric Gibbons: It was created because we needed a third artist for a group show we were included in while at the San Francisco Art Institute. We made up a fictitious artist, Cassup Muistardeaux, to meet the minimum amount of artists required in a student show. We then realized that we were working for her. She is from the French Guiana and is quite attractive. Now, the work that Tom and I do is under the umbrella of the Muistardeaux Collective. Cassup can come and go as she pleases and maybe have an exhibition of her own in the future. We would help her with the fabrication of her work. TOP: What does she look like? EG: She’s a red head and at times she’s also a brunette. She’s very good-looking, very domineering in some ways as a red head, and other times she’s a slinky brunette that's been a little bit more passive in her sexuality, but definitely passive aggressive. We’re her style counsel now.
Tom Borden and Eric Gibbons, two-thirds of the Muistardeaux Collective, at the Orchard, March 7th, 2009
TOP: How did you guys begin your collaboration together? Tom Borden: We were working around each other last summer and realized that we both enjoyed playing music. I had Eric come down and play with my band, The Dolfs, to record a sound track for a T.V show on cable access that I was doing. Eric ended up playing The Dolf’s one and only live show at Jack’s on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. We observed the way that we made music and the way that we made music as friends. The way when you just sit down and someone starts to play something and other person starts to riff off of that groove, ultimately creating something. Creating something that you don’t have to think about, except that it’s musical. You do the work beforehand by learning to play an instrument, but once you actually sit down to play, you’re not actually thinking about scales. You just let your mind and body take over and it works. TOP: So, would you say that music influences how you make work as visual artists? EG: Yes, absolutely! We’re making art just like a band would function. TB: We like to think that the way we make music is similar to the way we make art, because it should feel like, "this is fun... So damn fun!" When you’re playing music you don’t let your brain kick in and say, “Oh should I play it like this or that?” You just let go and I think there’s a certain amount of that in art making It’s similar to music in the sense that you can’t get something that's going to sound good in the end unless you do some planning or forethought and lots of practice. When we sit down and play, we don’t practice to get better. We practice to get better at playing, so when we actually sit down to play, it should feel natural.
Tom Borden and Eric Gibbons, two-thirds of the Muistardeaux Collective, at the Orchard, March 7th, 2009
TOP: What do you guy’s love about Art? EG: It helps me think exponentially; otherwise I wouldn’t do it. Connecting ideas and linking them up making this chain: That's the philosophy. I like how we use a lot of stuff like public domain, the internet, or popular culture. We can hook those up to make something that extends the thought. I love it because it has all of those things. It’s being a rock-star, it’s being a doctor, it’s all of that. I like to do a little bit of everything, so if we wanted to sit down and do a piece that was us being electricians for a year, then we would do that. If I wanted to become a lawyer and represent a friend in a divorce trial, then I could do that. TOP: So in a way, there are no limitations to your creative process? TB: Yeah, but there’s no pre-conceived limitations to the process in terms of what it can be, but once a process starts, the structures start to get dropped in. EG: Because some ideas don't work and other stuff is just stupid. TB: You have to be able to conceive and act on the stupid idea, as well as the racist idea, or the idea that's simply not going to work. It's the pursuit of these ideas that allow us to intelligently determine the good from the bad. TB: Inevitably, by the time you get to that point where you realize that an idea’s not gonna work, your brain has already branched off into a tangent that's somewhat related, whereas without the initial bad idea, there wouldn’t be a tangent to begin with.
Tom Borden and Eric Gibbons, two-thirds of the Muistardeaux Collective, at the Orchard, March 7th, 2009
TOP: How would you explain what it is that you do to someone who may not have an understanding of the vocabulary employed around modern art? EG: (Sighs) I don’t know. I just don’t want to make any excuses. What I do is: I take everything I’ve learned or thought about in regards to art and make fun of it in order to understand it. TOP: So that your life becomes Art? EG: I would hate to say that, but it is and so is yours, or at least it should be. I think that everything we do should be as artful as possible. TB: In many ways it’s shining a spotlight on ourselves as products of everything that we’ve done and everything that has happened to us, as well as every environment that we’ve been in for our whole lives. It’s the idea that, as American white males born and raised, that we are products of that physically and psychologically, so we’re objectifying this in a four dimensional way. EG: Pretty cool, huh? TOP: How does your work differ from say, the Theatre of the absurd or spectacles as art? TB: We do spectacle, we do shoplifting, we do getting drunk in sushi bars screaming “I LOVE L.A!” It’s just what we do. There are elements of the spectacle in it because that's part of our personalities but there’s always this kind of bigger thought behind it that ties it to our own crazy logic that has a reason for dramatization. EG: If we do spectacle, it needs to retain some bit of poetry. It’s not about just going Gonzo. TB: Personal poetry.
The new front porch of the Orchard Project
TOP: You guys use Tom Selleck a lot in your work. What’s that about? EG: We identify with Tom Selleck as the archetype for the “Man’s Man”, a ladies man. He was also recently on the cover of Cowboys and Indians Magazine and we were amazed at how good he looked, and the memories of watching Magnum P.I. and how we encountered Magnum and how we thought he was one cool motherfucker. TOP: Does he emulates a sort of cultural demi-god? EG: He became an icon and a mascot for us and plus he’s got a bitchin’ moustache. TOP: Do you think Tom Selleck would find it flattering by the way that you use him in your work? TB: Not quite sure. EG: Maybe, sometimes. TB: I think he would have loved what we made yesterday in his honor. EG: We went to the walk of stars in Hollywood and found Tom Selleck’s star. We got down on our knees and each of us worked on a rubbing of his star. One on tracing paper and one on regular paper. TOP: Will he remain a consistent thread in your work? EG: Yeah, he will. He won’t be as prominent, but he’s one of our materials and is at our disposal. TB: He won’t ever go away. EG: Now we can employ him. TB: Yeah!
Thanks for the new porch (orchardporch!), Tom and Eric! 
Tom Borden and Eric Gibbons, two-thirds of the Muistardeaux Collective, at the Orchard, March 7th, 2009