1. What is your name? Bede
2. How old are you? 32
3. Where are you from, where do you live now, where are you going?
US - I was a military brat, so my childhood was split between the east coast, north and south. I live in Brooklyn.
4. What is your first memory?
A frustrated attempt to propel myself on a swing set. I didn’t get it that day, but went on to perfect every trick a swing set allows. I’m a slow learner, but once I get it, I tear it up.
5. Are there specific sounds, scents, temperature, noises, colors, etc. associated with this memory?
You know, now that I think about it, I very clearly remember a dark rusty North Carolina sunset that day. North Carolina is a beautiful state.
6. What is your most cozy, pleasant, or ebullient memory? Please note sounds, scents, etc.
Rain. I remember too many instances to choose one, but storms saturate the color of the landscape, reflect light, and drown out the incessant squawking of daily life in a way that fosters reflection and extinguishes the furies. It’s a wonderful relaxant.
7. What is one of your favorite images, artists, paintings, photographers/photos, etc. & why?
The first few series of Garbage Pail Kids. I guess if I had to choose one I’d go with Grim Jim/Beth Deth or Jolted Joel/Live Mike. I can’t say why. As a product, the cards don’t make any sense, and I still can’t believe something so innocent was controversial, but there is something in those cards that really sparked my imagination. Maybe that’s what parents were afraid of. When my cards were taken from me was the day I realized that I was being raised by idiots.
8. What is one of your favorite scents (can be perfume but doesn’t have to be - for example, mine is the smell of coffee mixed with Mrs. Bradford’s perfume in the 5th grade, it’s particularly comforting)?
Almond extract. I didn’t discover this until later in life along with rose water. Both effect me in a way that no other scent aside maybe jasmine oil can even approach. They are like rain.
9. Please describe your bedroom.
Cameras, computers, unfinished paintings a costume box and some voodoo.
10. What reminds you of me (I mean, be kind, but you don’t have to be censored)?
Small fuzzy animals, piles of colorful clothing and gay-bar music.
