Plastic Aztecs

Founded in 2008, the Plastic Aztecs fuse sci-fi, tomfoolery, fluorescents, the time/space continuum and spandex to encourage public participation in large, orchestrated events. The Atlanta collective has, in Dashboard’s opinion, side-stepped art as installation and moved into the medium of social practice.

Most recently, their spring exhibition, GROW, at Beep Beep Gallery, saw the artists create an interactive experience where viewers climbed through a make-shift cave and made eye contact with pokey sword-things. They turned the white walled-space into an adult-sized diorama that fueled imaginations while simultaneously dissecting them.

Beth Malone/Dashboard: Individually how have all your backgrounds lent themselves to forming Plastic Aztecs? Art school? Circus? Summers on Coney Island?

Plastic Aztecs: 
We met on an ice fishing trip. At first, we were all enemies because we were jealous of each other’s muscles, but we were individually and eventually brought together over our mutual love of drinking liquor and sweet polar bear wrestling skills.When we began we didn’t really have any expectations about what this meant or where it was going—it was just a way to interact with people we like. There is a nice balance with four people: we all cover different perspectives but feel really good about discussing them and trading e-mails, videos, philosophies, and books.

Dash: How long have you been collaborating and how has the collective evolved over time?

PA: Since 2008, it’s been a transition from hanging out and discussing ideas to making artwork and doing shows together. Dorothy and Andrea put together Neon Apocalypse at Eyedrum, inspired by reading about 2012 and visiting the Natural History Museum in NYC. We decided to fashion a super-future museum view of the “Apocalypse” that occurred in the past. Seasonal and/or cyclic change and perception of time continue to play into our shows. The second show was Intergalactic Strongthang Competition, an art show about an intergalactic “Olympics”.

We chose the theme on New Years Eve 2008, and it was held in July 2009. ISC revolved around the flash and pomp of a universal sporting event but was also a serious discussion about competition. That show was a brainchild of Becky, Dorothy, and Andrea – but at that point Erin entered the process. The most recent show, GROW, done in winter 2010 at Beep Beep, included all four of us. We went over the top to generate work and overtake a space with interpreted nature, like a gallery and show left to decay and become more. GROW was a departure, a true experiment, and we got a feel of each others’ space and tendencies, which will be helpful in defining our next show. 


Dash: Can each of you tell me a bit about your chosen mediums and about the things you gain inspiration from?


PA: We are all very interested in experimentation and going in directions that defy our personal expectations. We have individual interests and favored mediums that we all want to explore. Working together influences our awareness of materials and themes.  A main focus of the collective is to explore new ways of bringing ideas to life. The Neon Apocalypse taught us about resin and molding, sand and light. With Intergalactic Strongthang Competition, we played with marketing, faux sponsorship, and looking at beautiful bodies in an “alien” way. GROW became a study of both sculptural and aural nature. Ultimately, our expeditions in materials synchronize and perform together.

Dash: Before I knew who you all were, I thought you were dudes. Does this mean I’m sexist? Or does it mean your work has overt masculine tendencies? Either way, I’m a sexist, bigoted pig-face.


PA: In a post-gender world, everyone is a dude. Maybe your confusion is really only a rhetoric issue, since we talk about ideas more than our genitals—even though the reverse can be fun sometimes. For the record, The Plastic Aztecs believe experiencing gender is different for everyone, so we haven’t really been interested in it being an aspect of self by which we are defined. Our philosophy in general is more inclusive than exclusive. It is tough balance, but we all agree that gender applies more to the past. Hopefully, in the future of art, gender won’t be a point of departure. We have collaborated with outstanding male artists such as Wes Cummings, Morgan Cooper, Zarlacc, and Andrew Nicholson. The fact we are female artists is more a system of happenstance or birth or luck or whatever. We have really similar goals, but being female is not an exclusive quality of artistic voice of in this collective.

Dash: Had you intended on gender playing a role in your work? Even if you hadn’t, it does. Would public response be different if you were all fellas?


PA: No. We think the only difference is that if we were all guys, no one would ask us about gender.

Dash: Is being an artist, in ATL or elsewhere, easier if you are part of a collective? Meaning, is it easier to gain recognition in numbers?


PA: It seems that for both the viewers and for us there is a wonderful mystique created by the collective mind of four people working together. Also, there is sort of an alter-ego shield that working in a group provides for artists, as you create a collective ego.  A good book to read about this sense of otherness that naturally happens when minds work together is The Third Mind by William S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin.  It seems to that a collective is a really wonderful place to begin working and thinking about how to define what you’re doing because there is so much influence to process.

Dash: How is the ATL art scene doin these days? You guys feel change in the air?

PA: There is definitely change in the air, which is natural. We hope it never stops – change makes behavior more dynamic and interesting. There seems to be a lot more people working together. Perhaps a specific catalyst necessitated more interest in our peers in DIY or working with other people (currently relevant topics in our social spheres), but who is to say what that catalyst is: low economy, more instant communication than ever before, more attunement to a collective unconsciousness, etc?  Maybe people are just getting better at engaging each other as the dialog expands. We know the bar of quality keeps getting higher. Atlanta has seen excellent shows so far this year, and we will be very happy to see more.