Hollywood Hopeful

Cody Critcheloe, aka Ssion, has a totalizing vision that includes music, fashion, video, drawings, make-up—everything that partakes or at least alludes to sub-culture. I encountered his work at Peres Projects Los Angeles when I walked into his first solo exhibit BOY to snatches of glowing objects, black lights, and TVs. There were mounds of Pepsi cans, eerie drawings, hordes of fashionable spectators come to see it all, and then an epic movie with the look of John Water's Desperate Living, chronicling the rise of a swaggering music hero to pop stardom. The movie is a radiant roman à clef that prompts viewers to consider the terms of success and the context of the Ssion saga itself. It wasn't fine art, which Critcheloe admits to never thinking about, but showbiz, and the kind of utopic midwestern nostalgia for fame that exempts no art school student. BOY opens at Peres Projects Berlin on June 26. Later this year he'll perform at The Hole, a new space in Soho run by former directors at Deith Projects.


JON LEON: How did the Ssion we know of today evolve?

CODY CRITCHELOE: SSION began as a punk band that I started as a teenager in Kentucky. It was me and the three coolest punk/goth chicks in town. We made tapes, zines, and over-the-top performances to accompany the music I was making. I was obsessive about creating a scene or some kind of myth back then, which is the same thing I'm doing now but with more focus, and on a broader scale. After going to art school (with hopes of starting a real band) I found myself in a similar situation of spearheading  a collective of friends that could help me perform the songs I was making.

INSTALLATION VIEW OF BOY, PERES PROJECTS LOS ANGELES, 2010. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND PERES PROJECTS.

The basic crux is that it all starts with the music, after which all the other elements fall in to place. The evolution of SSION, regardless if it's a punk band or a pop show, is always sort of approached in the same way: you make the kind of music you want to hear, and then create a world around that. It's how I imagine any pop star would go about creating. I guess it's not really a typical fine art way of creating. I think about it in a different way: you make a record, you make videos, you put on a show and you tour. Ssion as fine art is not something I ever think about.


LEON: Ssion's music videos form a narrative of desire for its own sake, a dream of dreams, that winds up being this movie BOY. Were you always thinking cinematically about your project?

CRITCHELOE: I think I was always meant to make a movie. It feels very natural to me because even the way I make music is in more of a directorial way. BOY is a rock 'n roll musical movie that involves the help of many musicians, costume designers, video editors, artists, actors and so on. I take an extremely hands-on approach to it all, but in the end the product exists because of all the assistance I've received in creating this very specific world that appears fun, free, and irreverent—like a hyper-queer utopia.

LEON: What is the concept of freedom within the framework of Ssion?

CRITCHELOE: It's important for everything SSION produces to project this illusion of freedom, but at its base, I feel like we're creating a satire on freedom itself—especially throughout the narrative of the movie which is showcasing the development of two characters (myself and The Woman [a composite of all the women I've admired, and a "bitch goddess"]) living out a typical American narrative of coming from nothing and achieving success. Ultimately, I have  a very middle class approach to creating. I believe freedom comes through hard work and I always want to make a good product, something that is entertaining and inspires people in one way or another. I was raised on a DIY punk aesthetic that said  "Anyone can do this" and I want that ideal reflected in the things I make even though a lot of work and thought goes into every single detail. I poke fun at the things I love and am actually a part of. It's a really gay thing to do. I think gay people see the facade in almost everything.

LEON: I read the videos as a satire that is so close to its object it eliminates the boundary between critique and critiqued. It is even like that? What does BOY mean to you?

CRITCHELOE: BOY is primarily focusing on the relationship between myself and The Woman, establishing me as a supporting foil to her grand scheme. It gives her the authority and the respect, which is pretty significant to how I view women as a superior being, but there's also an unspoken longing to my relationship with her. Throughout the movie I shadow her every move, allowing me to escape my homogenized surroundings. I become a pop star only to give it all to her in the end. Throughout the movie I'm in a constant flux of growing up, while she ultimately knows her destiny. There is also something less threatening about a boy riding an androgynous line, whereas a man who is taking on androgyny is much more threatening to society. The word boy is passive, and in connection to my relationship with The Woman, I'm a passive character.

Plus, I love all of the slang that is associated with the word "boy" and the significance of the fashion label Boy of London that was endorsed by gay artists throughout the 80s like Boy George, Pet Shop Boys and Elton John.


PERES PROJECTS IS LOCATED AT SCHLESICHES STRASSE 26, BERLIN. LEFT: BOY BOX, LEATHER JACKET (DETAIL), 2010. COURTESY THE ARTIST AND PERES PROJECTS