COMUNE/Drop City contributor Shelby Menzel is a delicate genius and I mean that in the best way. He has a knack for calling out the bullshit in this world and carefree way of living life that makes me feel like a working stiff. Shelby works in a variety of mediums, he shoots instant photos, does comedic drawings, watercolors, and collages. Video art is the medium in which Shelby really excels at, and is the most prolific. He recently featured one of his video installations “Spectral Psychosis“ at the Drop City launch titled “Experiments in Occultism and Parapsychology”. He also has..
COMUNE/Drop City contributor Shelby Menzel is a delicate genius and I mean that in the best way. He has a knack for calling out the bullshit in this world and carefree way of living life that makes me feel like a working stiff. Shelby works in a variety of mediums, he shoots instant photos, does comedic drawings, watercolors, and collages. Video art is the medium in which Shelby really excels at, and is the most prolific. He recently featured one of his video installations “Spectral Psychosis“ at the Drop City launch titled “Experiments in Occultism and Parapsychology”. He also has a couple signature Drop City artist tee shirts. Shelby enjoys a good skate session, some river chill time, cold ones, and a savage tan. Shelby has been a big influence and inspiration to me so it’s great to sit down and ask him a few questions.
You can see more of Shelby’s work at www.handshakeinparadise.blogspot.com
C.Smith: How’s Portland life these days?
S.Menzel: Fantastic. The other day I was riding in the back of a subaru brat and there were babes all over this park just hanging out in bikinis and short shorts. Now that the weather has changed the entire town becomes happy and excited. You can’t beat a summer in portland, if you spend one here you will be back for the next one, and on into infinity.
C.Smith: You’re originally from SLC. How did you end up in Portland?
S.Menzel: Epic summers actually. I went to Mt. Hood when I was like 17 or so and the head dude there, Tonino, got me a job filming campers chuking themselves all day. I did that for the next few summers and met some of my best friends to this day. Those were some wicked times being that young when that place was still untamed and wreckless. It was pretty harsh there at times, some pretty crude antics would go down. Anyway, Andy Forgash, Matty Ryan and me always skated in Utah, thats how we got to know each other, and at the time I made little skate movies with my friends. So when Mikey started Kidsknow, he asked those guys if they knew anyone to film some rails. Thats how I got into it, true story. Thats how it works, right place, right time, and you can hang out without being a kook. Then when we quit Kidsknow I stayed in Utah for a year. It was super weird too, I had loads of money and didn’t work or do anything for a year. I just dated this girl and lived in Andy Wright’s basement. My apt. looked like a movie set, I got super into cleaning. When things went south with the babe it was natural to go to portland, I loved it there and thats where alot of my best friends were anyway. I love this town.
C. Smith: What have you been working on lately?
S.Menzel: Living life honestly and aligning with what Im capable of. Im really into figuring out my bullshit so I can be useful as a full spectrum human being to others. You cant do anything for anyone if you don’t have your own shit sorted out, and that can be tricky.
C.Smith: What’s a typical day like for you? Do you have a routine?
S.Menzel: Id call it a routine, I dont think many other people would, Id say its more of a daily vibe I got going. I get up whenever feels good, somedays 7am some days noon, i dont descriminate. Usually get some coffee and see whats shaking on the front porch scene. Depending on who I end up chatting with or who stops by this can be my entire day, just porch life. Usually a skate mission will come together or we skate the curb. I wander around downtown a few times a week, see how the other folks are getting by in the offices. Some records, some reading, some guitar in between. See what the night holds, and repeat.
C.Smith: How have your Mental Observations been going?
S.Menzel: Mellow, slightly on hold as far as the interweb goes. Ive been burnt on the interweb man, its a soul sucking vortex. I mean your reading this on the interweb right now, GO OUTSIDE, SEE WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER! YOUR DISTINY IS OUT THERE, NOT IN HERE!!!
C.Smith: Your video installation for the Drop City launch was amazing. What was your inspiration and what was it about?
S.Menzel: Two words: Stoned Visuals. Alot of that is from footage I made to play in this bar we do a Bingo night in. Its really trippy bingo where the bingo caller is drunk and pretty high and then there is a live band playing out there tunes and you win prizes the bar tender gets from thrift stores. So i made the visuals for people to just end up staring at while they play bingo. They seem to work, one lady said she felt like she drank cough syrup while watching it. To me, that is success.
C.Smith: You will be a contributing editor of the COMUNE snowboard movie “Black Holes and Invisible Forces Bending Time Through Particle Deformations Creating Infinite Freedom in the Garden on the Moon”. You were such an influential filmmaker in the snowboarding world with “Love/Hate” and “Burning Bridges”, how do you feel about having a hand in creating something else involved in snowboarding?
S.Menzel: It will be cool, I mean its not going to solve any pressing world dilemmas or anything but hopefully the veiwers will enjoy it more than the latest high production, energy drink feuled filth.
C.Smith: Do you think you’ll edit something wild and do you care if people hate it?
S.Menzel: I have a serious “for videos” music archive backing up, so I look forward to tapping into that. There will always be haters, but at the same time, everyone is a kook to someone, so hey………..
C.Smith: How many river days do you think you’ll get in this summer?
S.Menzel: More than thirty, no questions asked. I will go with people I dont even know, all bets are off when its river season. Not to mention Im mixing a bbq into my supplies this year.
C.Smith: Who are some of your favorite visual artists and who inspires you the most?
S.Menzel: I like anything sincere and original. Probably a good place to start is anyone who doesn’t call themselves an artist. Its when people believe in all the ego bullshit that I lose interest. I like so much stuff i cant even begin. Ive seen some drawings by little kids or people who say they can’t draw that have completely blown my mind, where I just stare at it in complete fascination. I know I like something when I laugh, nothing should ever be too serious to smile at. That day you and I went to the Portland Art Museum and we looked at all those amazing paintings and what not, but remember what blew our minds? Those shitty little drawings on the huge rolls of fabric of the little native americans on horses fighting and ripping around. And they were made in like the 1600′s!!! That was amazing, shit like that, thats where its at. And any semi- good/ semi-terrible portrait at a thriftstore.
C.Smith: Is there a particular filmmaker or video artist you admire?
S.Menzel: Anything old is so good. Just the way the world used to look before we put ads all over everything and before humans were fat, wearing sweats. When you see that world in a movie or video it just looks inviting and interesting, that world is gone to us now, if it does exist it is just a taste. Old skate videos are the other stuff I love. 90′s up to that one movie “Feedback”. I loved that era, that was all I watched for like 10 years. NASA archival footage too.
C.Smith: As well as your own footage, you also use found and archival film in your videos. How long does it take you to harvest imagery? Do you have a concept before you begin, or do concepts come to you as you search out and appropriate imagery?
S.Menzel: Honestly, it just happens. There is a whole lot of time put into it for sure, a disturbing amount. But all I really do is just start messing around. I mean you get stoned and you can find yourself watching some out there shit or recording some bizzarre audio. I have ideas but they always change as I go along, whatever makes me laugh is where it goes. Or if i get tired and go to bed.
SPECTACULAR MOMENTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY from shelby menzel on Vimeo.
C.Smith: There’s a very subversive theme in a lot of your work. Kind of a tongue and cheek social commentary, like the worlds a fucked up place and you just live in it. Would you agree? Do you feel like an observer in life? Do you feel like life and they way humans interact and behave is disturbing?
S.Menzel: This time in the existence of human beings is completely fucked up, and dont try to kid yourself and shake it off. We live in a culture of death for the most part. Some indiginous people actually foretold of this period of time and called it “The era of death”. As a whole, humans, and specifically humans in this culture, the western culture, are depleting the earth of its resources in order to facilitate our ego driven, material, capitalist, exploitive culture. And thats a fact. We have decided that it is ok to rape other people of their resources and livlihoods on other ends of the planet to make our fucking plastic bullshit and feul our fancy cars. Im in this mess, we all are, and I am not saying Im above it all becuase I eat organic or something, let the hippies preach that crap. What I think is most sad and disturbing is we dont stand a chance of ever living differently if we all dont open our eyes and learn about the world, and the society that we participate in. The very least you can do is open your eyes, see how it really works, see who is getting shafted so you can get your killer stuff on the cheap. I just wander around and see some serious sadness most days you know, people are in the dumps. Dont get me wrong, I make it a point to find a reason to smile as often as I can, and there is so much incredible beauty in this world, but thats why its such a damn shame. You see some fat dude in super beat gear, probably starving or strung out, and hes got a camel light in one hand and a energy drink in the other! Thats it, thats what we were meant for? Thats the american dream? They say a civilization is only as good as its lowliest citizen. In that case, this party sucks. Earth is fucked unless this civilization crumbles to the ground. Either nature will do it or we will blow it on our own, either way, its impossible for us to go on like this forever. Sorry to be the downer, I still love fun, and bless those who can relate to any of this.
C.Smith: What’s most important to you in life?
S.Menzel: Sanity, friends, family, health, nature, awareness, love, and everything in between all that.
Thanks Shelbs!
-Corey
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