Oh how I love the Live Arts/Fringe Festival! Thought-provoking, innovative and just plain fun.
There are so many great performances this year in venues from a graveyard to a private home that I’ll just have to refer you to the web site to check them all out. This year, we meet with dancer/visual artist Gunnar Montana. His sweet face and bubbly laugh won’t prepare you for the drama of his dark side … but it’s what makes him so interesting and fun!
PGN: Tell me a little bit about growing up in your hometown. GM: Ah, Trout Creek, Mt. It was rough. Big skies and small minds. I came out when I was 13 in a town of 1,000 people. It wasn’t cool at all. I had a hard time and my family had a hard time too. They were super-supportive but the people around them weren’t as open-minded.
PGN: What was the worst incident that comes to mind? GM: Just having to go to school each day and worry about my safety and how many times I would be called a fag that day. Luckily, my brother was a senior and very popular, so he kind of had my back when he was there, but there were a lot of instances where I was just scared to go to school. It was a bad environment and I couldn’t be an artist or dancer or any of those things because the world was so small there.
PGN: Did you know that you wanted to be a dancer at that age? GM: Yes, I was always dancing and moving and creating art. In high school, I was the only guy on the dance squad and when we performed at half-times, I got pennies thrown at me. I knew that dance was what I wanted to be doing, though, and that I would have to get out of there to do it, so I told my family that I was sending myself to boarding school when I was 15. It was that or I would kill myself or someone would kill me. So they sent me to a school on the East Coast.
PGN: What did/do your parents do? GM: My mother is a spiritual healer and masseuse so she totally gets it. I came out to her and she was like, “Yeah, I had girlfriends when I was in college,” and my dad is a politician. It took him a little longer to get used to the fact that I wasn’t going to be the son to go out hunting with him. But he gets it completely now too, which is awesome.
PGN: What an odd combination; I guess opposites attract. GM: [Laughs.] Not really, they broke up at about the time I came out, so everyone was going in their separate directions. It was a crazy year.
PGN: Where did you end up? GM: My sophomore year they sent me to a Quaker school near West Chester, Pa. I came alive there, I exploded. It was one of the most accepting environments I’ve ever been in. I joined dance, I joined the art group, I learned everything I wanted and how to express myself exactly how I wanted to.
PGN: What was your brother like? GM: His name is Stryker — homecoming king, jock, one of the most popular guys in school. He’s definitely the protective older- brother type. We get along completely.
PGN: Was it difficult being away from the family? GM: No, I’ve never had a problem with that. I’ve just started to enjoy going home. Accepting it for what it is and appreciating the beauty of rural Montana. Before that, I hadn’t wanted to touch the place, I had such a bad taste in my mouth. I’m connected to my family in a good way but distant too.
PGN: What was your favorite toy as a kid? GM: I wanna say a sandbox, but it really wasn’t toys. We weren’t into video games or TV. We were into outdoors stuff, ripping whole ferns out of the ground and throwing them at each other like spears. I did have a ton of stuffed animals. I loved them, still do. I’d have birthday parties for them and we’d all gather round and have cake. [Laughs.] Maybe it was just an elaborate excuse for me to eat cake on a regular basis.
PGN: [Laughs.] So how does such a nice, clean-cut boy from Montana create such dark and twisted work? GM: I don’t know! I feel like it’s almost a bipolar thing where it’s either really high and happy or really low and dark. I’m usually a happy-go-lucky guy, but this show definitely runs more to the dark side. It’s probably a chemical imbalance, not like I’d take anything for it.
PGN: Are you a Gemini? I’ve dated a few and they definitely have two sides. GM: I am on the cusp between Taurus and Gemini! That might explain it.
PGN: I was reading about your Fringe program, “Rub,” from last year. It was about go-go dancing and stripping and generated a lot of controversy. Despite having a lot of dancer friends, I hadn’t realized how many — male and female — get into stripping to pay the bills. Tell me about it. GM: We don’t make any money. The arts are being cut and there are no jobs out there. You get out of school with all these student loans to pay. You take a job in a restaurant and you’ll be there until your 40s trying to pay them off. When girls can make $1,000 a night and pay off the loans, it’s hard to turn down. You just hope not to get sucked into the life. That’s what started it; I had a lot of friends who were go-go dancing or stripping to make money and I thought, Well, let me put them in a different light, take them out of that situation and put them in an artful situation where people could see them as artists, not as pieces of meat. It worked to some extent. There were some flaws where it turned out to be more of a shit show than I wanted. We did most of the show in the nude and a lot of people felt that it was exploitive. I don’t think I helped empower the women enough and I got a lot of feedback that the show was kind of misogynistic for me to do. But the girls loved it. They loved performing it, they loved having an audience as opposed to a bunch of guys with bills in their hands.
PGN: It must have felt good that you were generating conversation, good or bad. GM: Oh yeah. There were several shows done in the nude last year. The whole thing blew out of control, but it was fun to be a part of naked Fringe!
PGN: So what’s in store for this year? GM: Well, my piece is called “Basement.” I thought it was going to be a dark show, but it got even darker than I’d expected. I went through a breakup in January with a guy I’d been with for two years. I got into a rut, like you do after a rough breakup, and I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to create anything authentic until I dealt with it. I had to do something that acknowledged the situation because it had just absorbed me, taken over my life. I knew I couldn’t choreograph some happy little comedy piece until I got it out of my system, so I made the entire show about the breakup.
PGN: So you’re the Taylor Swift of dance! GM: Yes! Exactly! Though I’m not trying to call him out like she did at the “VMAs.” I respect the relationship and what it was, it just had a rough ending. This was more about my response and how I dealt with it. It’s not about him. I just had to resolve it this way for myself.
PGN: So where did the chainsaw come in? GM: Um, there’s a big massacre at the end!
PGN: Oh dear, what happened? GM: Well, at the end of the relationship I moved out for about 10 days to collect myself. I came back to get some of my things and walked in to find him in bed with our mutual friend. Standing there looking at them was the most emotional I’d ever felt in my life. I felt traumatized and I couldn’t move. As I stood there, the image of me taking the guy out with a chainsaw just popped into my head. People like to think that they don’t think like that, but they do. It looks a little crazy to recreate that image, but for me it was about seeing myself conquering the situation. In the piece I stand above it all, literally. It’s a striking image [the show poster has Gunnar standing over a bloody body with a chainsaw] and it led to me sitting here telling you the story of the betrayal, so I’m like, That’s probably all the therapy I’ll need! Better this way than in real life.
PGN: Have you spoken to him or heard his reaction? GM: No, and I like it that way. It’s not about him or his response at all. It was just cathartic for me.
PGN: So which member of the family had the most influence on creating your twisted sense of things? GM: Oh, my dark, twisted side. I want to say … well, I’m a total momma’s boy. She’s guided me through life. But I think I get my dark side from my relationship with my father. He lost his father when he was young and I don’t think he ever quite understood fatherhood. I’ve always felt that I was missing a father figure even when he was there, so there’s definitely some darkness that comes out of that. But not enough to be interesting. He wasn’t a serial killer or anything.
PGN: [Laughs.] So you have no one to blame for your twisted creations? GM: No! It’s all me.
PGN: Outside of challenging people, what else do you like to do? GM: I’ve really been hardcore into rock- climbing recently. I’m usually super physically active; working out and stuff is a big outlet for me. And I’m always doing something artsy, always performing around the city or choreographing things. My life as a whole revolves around art.
PGN: I understand you’re into dumpster diving? GM: Absolutely. I have to. I don’t have any money, no artist does. So I find myself making most of my visual art from trash, things I find. Everything for this show is from the restaurants where I work and animal parts, bones and stuff. I also have a whole installation that’s all cardboard. I actually did visual arts before I got into dance. Let me show you something! [Runs to the other side of the room and retrieves a high-heeled shoe covered in what looks like bones.]
PGN: Cool. GM: Yeah, it’s made mostly from pig jaws, animal parts and a little bit of latex.
PGN: Where do you find pig jaws in Philadelphia? GM: I went to the Italian Market and asked if anyone had any bones or bits and I got a whole bag of rotting animal parts.
PGN: [Laughs.] And no one called the FBI or SVU? GM: Ha. No! They said it happens surprisingly often.
PGN: What was your best dumpster find? GM: A stretcher. Outside of Jefferson Hospital; it was fantastic. A friend helped me wheel it home to Ninth and Reed, and we got stopped by the police. Fortunately, they let me go. I used it for the show last year.
PGN: Ever been arrested? GM: Surprisingly no. I’m always taking things. Oh my God, I found a whole bunch of mannequin heads behind one of the hair schools. Five bags of them! It was fantastic. I’m using them for this show. That was actually my best find.
PGN: Speaking of using odd objects, you dance with Brian Sanders and Junk. I did his profile and he was telling me that he’ll just walk along and see cinder blocks and think, Wow, we should dance with them on our heads! GM: [Laughs.] Yes, that was for “Sanctuary.” I had to dance with him in that show. Ach, he’s such a hard man to dance with. A great dancer of course, but it’s crazy, he’s in his own little mind and he’ll just start climbing on you, stepping on your head as he’s working through an idea, and you have to make sure you don’t drop him. It’s kind of intimidating.
PGN: You become a human monkey bar. GM: Exactly!
PGN: So do you think your dancers say the same thing about you? GM: [Laughs.] Probably, the girls in this show think I’m absolutely crazy. They’re very strong. The other day I had one of them wearing a mask made from a real pig’s face that I cooked and made into a gas mask. And this morning I had them under a big plastic tarp and was like, “If you find you can’t breathe, just tap the floor or something and I’ll come get you.” It’s fun. Where else do you get to do this kind of thing?
PGN: What’s so important about the Fringe Festival? GM: I think it’s important to be a part of the arts community and I’m trying now to figure out how my art fits in. I get a lot of mixed feedback but with Fringe/Live Arts, it’s a time where we can all participate and help each other. It’s really nice to collaborate with other people. For this project I’m working with photographers and video people, etc. There’s a guy who asked if he could shoot our rehearsals and show a different side of what we’re doing. To have someone interested in your work like that is priceless. Other than Fringe, I feel there’s not any real unity in the community. Everybody’s just busy trying to make it and do their own thing.
PGN: It’s random-question time. What’s the most inappropriate present that you gave or received? GM: We were doing a secret Santa at work and I got a fish and small tank for my co-worker. The fish died the day before the party so I dried it out and wrote “Merry Christmas” on it and gave it anyway. I told him I’d buy a new one, but I don’t think I ever got around to it.
PGN: Who did you take to your prom? GM: I went by myself as my alter ego Preston. I beat my face and wore bright red lipstick and a blazer with a belt. I put on glasses to enhance the look and took Preston to prom. He’s super fun. I’m actually growing my hair out for Preston right now; he has long hair that he combs over. He even shows up in this show for a second.
PGN: Worst lie you ever told? GM: Oh, the other day at work … and I got suspended for it! I called out sick and entered the Mr. Gay Stoli contest. I ended up getting second place and “most original man.” I dressed in a trash bag and ripped it off my body in a striptease. It was all over Facebook and my boss saw it so I got suspended from work. [Laughs.] I really didn’t think that one out!
Check out the festival at www.fringearts.com!
To suggest a community member for Family Portraits, email [email protected].