This podcast episode presents an engaging dialogue with artists Distorted Reality and No Fun Zone, following a recent First Friday Reception . The primary focus of our discussion revolves around the unique experience of exhibiting artwork and the subsequent interactions with the audience, as well as the creative processes behind their respective pieces they brought downtown to our gallery. As we navigate through their narratives, we highlight the significance of community in the artistic journey and the transformative power of creativity in our lives.

Mentioned in this episode:

Punches & Popcorn

Punches & Popcorn: The masters of Couch Potato style Mike Huntone, Jason Bills, and Dr. Dominic D’Amore take a deep dive into the best and worst of martial arts films. https://punches-and-popcorn.captivate.fm/

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Foreign.

Welcome back to the behind the Glass podcast.

Or I might rename it the Robin Chris Show.

Oh, that sounds really good.

That's.

That sounded like real Midwest on us.

Right there, for sure.

Absolutely.

But now we back, and for a special episode that I am looking forward to.

Usually we do the podcast before we have the gallery opening, but this time we have the pleasure of talking to a few of our artists after the show.

And I think, Chris, that this is going to be a great opportunity to kind of get.

Ooh, that sounded good.

It did sound good.

Like you were cracking the top on something new.

It was like you planned that out.

But no, we got an opportunity to really talk about what it's like to showcase instead of the anticipation of showcasing that we usually talk about.

So I'm excited.

Today we got Tom from Distorted Reality, and we got the artist that many of you probably know is no fun Zone.

You've probably seen the work around the city a lot.

And shout out to Sunny, who was not here today, who couldn't be here, but has some great pieces in the.

In the gallery as well.

Yeah, really cool vibes with the drawings.

It was really interesting to see.

And this was.

This was a great example of a Behind the glass that had so many different styles in it all at once.

And I think, you know, Sonny's work really helped keep that diverse vibes going from.

From street art to, you know, creative processing of photographs to.

To these.

It's.

It's hard to say they're not quaint, but they're just these sketches of storefronts that.

That feel vibrant even though they're lean.

I think they're just really great to look at in a gallery.

Reminds me of, like, the doodles I used to do when I used to slack off in school.

Yeah, yeah, but like, 10 times better than that.

But, you know, if.

If people haven't realized, like, you know, it's October, and we really wanted to curate this show to be something different in that theme of, like, you know, Halloween and just, you know, kind of breaking out that traditional realm of photography that we usually do.

So I thought it was a great show.

Absolutely.

And it was.

You know, it's.

It's always tough on a beautiful Friday night in Rochester to have everybody come out, but everybody that was there really was feeling the.

You know, just walking around.

You see their faces.

They're up and down and looking at different things.

It was.

It was really nice, and it was.

It was a really nice gallery, but I'm kind of excited to talk to everybody.

Like you said after.

Because this is.

We love doing beyond the glass and coming in after like six months or a year to see how it affected people.

But sometimes, you know, that, I don't know, it takes me time sometimes to process things.

I don't know about you.

Like, for me, sometimes I have to take a step back to feel the feelings of what I've experienced, for sure.

And like you said, I think there's so much that goes into the curation of it where usually we talk during the middle of that process, everybody's a little antsy.

So now we just get to cool out, talk about the art.

And I'm really excited about it.

So let's just get into it.

Tom, I found myself with the 3D glasses on, just really vibing out to your work and it brought a whole new dynamic to the show.

So before we talk about what you displayed specifically, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became to become the artist that you are.

Yeah.

So thanks.

And also I really appreciate the opportunity.

Being in the gallery, like, this was a really, really high for me.

So I really appreciate it.

So I started like this photography artistic journey about eight years ago.

The wife and I were going to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary.

And I was like, I'm not just taking pictures on my cell phone, right?

Like, I need to get a camera.

Okay.

So I got my first dslr, learning how to use it.

Took it up to Murphs for the open jam because I play guitar there too, taking pictures of the, of the musicians.

And the next week I don't bring the camera.

Everyone's yelling at me because I post on my Facebook they like the photo.

So I'm like, all right, fine.

So now like, I'm the photographer there.

So that from there I just started getting more into photography and learning more about it.

And then like, everyone can.

A lot of people can make really good pictures.

Yeah, right.

Like you can get that shot and get that composure and it's a really beautiful photo.

But what if you took that beautiful photo and broke it in ways to make it even still beautiful, but in a different way?

So I started experimenting with like some black and white stuff, distorting the images.

After, I just sort of fell into this whole, like, glitch art thing.

And I do a lot also, like analog, so I have a CRT in my basement with a VCR hookup so I can like take the images and distort them.

I got some old equipment that circuit bent.

Right.

So I just started just experimenting from there.

Right.

If something looked cool, I was like, all right, let me go get it and see how I can break something.

And that's how this, like about three years now, I've been really dedicated to that.

Okay, so this is how I've progressed so far.

So you do all of that distortion analog.

You don't do that like Photoshop.

It's a mix.

It's a mix.

So some of it.

So the piece that was 3D, the Rochester skyline, that is a digital photo that I use photoshop to make 3D.

Got it, right.

I do have others that I did analog.

But for this show I wanted to stick to just my photography, not my other crazy adventures with the art, right.

So I tried to display one of all of my types, right.

I got film in there, experimental film.

I had the 3D with the black and white.

I had the circuit bent image of the park.

So you flip some switches in it and it does some cool things in it.

And then what was the other piece?

The.

The first one was.

I'm trying to remember what it was because there, there.

Oh, it was just black and white.

It was.

Yeah, it was black and white Jenny.

So just a macro shot of the Jenny glasses.

And I had the experimental film.

That's the lighting cover at the mag.

So that was some fun, like, double exposure stuff I was doing.

So I pre shot the roll and then rewound it and put it back in with those effects.

And then I had the 3D, the circuit bent one.

And then the last one was, Geez, now I'm trying to think, what the hell?

What did I bring?

What was it?

It's all right.

So what.

What I'm kind of interested in.

So you talked about a lot of different.

A lot of different techniques and a lot of what I would consider.

I mean, not.

Not to assume your age.

We're probably of a relatively similar vintage.

Yes.

Having some years in the 80s and then, you know, being a, you know, a kid and getting into being a teenager in the 90s.

Like that analog thing, like when you mentioned that, I'm like, that's real nerd stuff, right?

Like getting the switches and feeling those things.

Like, you know, I can remember having a black and white TV as a kid when it was an old one that we're just using because we were poor.

But, you know, we had, you know, tapes that were dubbed over.

You're recording, you getting those effects, you're feeling those, those analog vibes and I know, Rob.

Like, you're doing your lo fi stuff.

Absolutely.

You know, that's my bag.

There's.

There's something.

There's something about, you know, and not.

Not just from a nostalgic sense.

Right.

It is part nostalgia.

But what about, you know, seeing some of the analog stuff or creating some of those effects, like the blue and red 3D?

What.

How does that appeal to you?

Because that is.

It's on vogue right now, but it doesn't feel like you're doing it because it's trendy.

It feels like it's going back.

Yeah.

So I. I find it relaxing.

Right.

And comforting in a way, too, because.

Right.

It goes back to childhood and it brings back.

You know, I had, like, some comic books that were 3D, and I absolutely love them.

Right.

And I'm like, how does this work?

I had no idea how it worked when I was a kid.

Do you remember which.

Which comics it was?

I had a Ghostbusters one.

Awesome.

Which I still have in my basement.

I got it from my parents and brought all my comic books, so I still have it somewhere.

And then there was a couple other ones that I had, too, but the Ghostbusters one still stands out as the one that I got into.

I was like, wow, this is cool.

You know, and with the other analog stuff, it's really amazing what we have available to us now.

Like, back then, that was the only thing.

Right?

And then digital comes out, and everyone's doing everything digital.

Everything's pristine.

Everything's beautiful, crisp, clean.

Almost like no life.

Right.

It's like you go back to an analog record.

Why do you want a record?

Because you feel something.

It has more of that warmth to it.

But with the modern digital technology, you can do more with analog than we ever could.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

And it is because there's.

And it's weird because, like, the kids now are collecting VHS tapes.

And I remember how eager I was to throw those things away as soon as I could, but.

And now the kids are collecting vhs.

They're going back to cassettes, too.

Like cassettes and vhs.

And it's just very.

It's very interesting to see it as a trend when we grew up with it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's great.

It's also, like finding ways to intentionally break it, too, and explore, like, the fringe, like, with the film.

I spent a good about eight months exploring, like, how to distort film.

And everything I found was, you know, how to fix it when it's wrong.

Right.

No one ever wanted this.

What I'm looking for in the film to be what the output was.

Right.

Film was chasing that perfect picture until digital came out.

And I'm like, well, how do I break the film?

What other experimental things can I do with the film?

Because I remember.

Who was it?

Was it Nick Brandreth that did, like, the salt stuff?

Yeah, to.

He did, like, salt film soups.

Yeah.

He was like, salting it somehow to create these antique effects.

And there's a lot of creativity you can do with this stuff because, like, you can mess stuff up in infinite ways.

I burned some rolls.

It all come out good.

Like, I was like, oh, there goes 10 bucks, you know, what was.

What was an experiment that didn't work.

So I've been trying to pre expose the film with different lights.

So I found that different light sources causes different colors and effects to be on the film.

There's another, a guy who goes by psychedelic blues.

He does a lot of that stuff too, right?

So you could buy the rolls of his film and it's pre done.

So I was trying to mimic that.

So I just went too heavy on the light, basically.

And I go.

I shoot the roll, you know, I bring it down to Scott's, come back, and I'm like, yay, I got my roll.

I take the negatives out and I'm like, son of a bitch.

I think we've all had that experience that is.

That is useless.

So now I gotta go back and refine it.

And that's how I started developing at home, actually.

I was like, you know what?

Scott says, great work, you know, but I'm like, I need to churn through these roles and, like, innovate really fast and not drive 20 minutes there and 20 minutes back all the time.

So I started developing at home.

Is there something behind your instinct to intentionally, as you put it, break it, as opposed to leading into what might make it perfect?

Because I find that concept interesting.

You know, it.

Sometimes it just shows up, you know, Other times I'll look at something and I'm like, I think that will look pretty interesting broken.

Right?

Or you look at something just at a different angle.

Or I see a technique somewhere and I'm like, let me see if I can reproduce that somehow.

Yeah.

You know, and then I mess with it a bit, you know, of course, the output isn't the first output of the experiment, but that's generally how it goes.

I'm like, I think.

I think this looks cool.

This looks different.

And then my wife always complains that my art makes her eyes.

Itch Well, I was just.

She's like, you're making it look like I don't have my glasses on right now, and I hate it.

So once I get to that part, I know that I'm.

I'm onto something.

You know, there's definitely something about your work that makes you just want to engage with it.

And I couldn't put words to it until you just said it.

But just looking at it, I'm like, I want to look at this a little longer.

I want to investigate it more because there's something about it that is telling me.

It's like speaking.

Right.

And when the image is super perfect, it's like, oh, okay, yeah.

It's like, what else is there?

What can you discover?

Exactly what I thought was, like, most interesting when I got there.

So I got at the gallery, like, right after six.

Right.

And Joe photo is like, hey, look at this one with the glasses on.

So I only ever looked at the 3D one with the glasses on because the other ones aren't 3D to me.

So I don't think, oh, let me see how it goes.

But that middle, the second one with the art, the photo From Mag, the 3D glasses, just with the purples and blues in the picture gave it a whole nother look once you put those glasses on.

And I. I, like, stood back a bit at the gallery and watched how people interacted with the art.

And they would all go through it.

Yeah.

And then see the glasses and then go back for every single one.

And it was really awesome to see them go, wow.

And like, they all.

They all got to that film one at the mag, and they stopped and waited the longest at that one.

And it wasn't even intentional.

Wow.

Yeah.

As soon as I saw those glasses, I'm like, oh, yeah, this is about to be fun.

Where'd you get them?

Just Amazon.

Yeah.

Nice.

And hopefully they're still there at the gallery.

If you guys are not there, let me know.

I have more.

I can drop them off.

Well, and speaking of which, people can definitely still go visit the.

The gallery through the entire month of October.

Absolutely.

So if you missed the opening on first Friday, you can come out and check it out anytime that the gallery is open at the Mercantile in Maine in scenic downtown Rochester, New York.

Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

So let's transition to no Fun Zone for a second.

What I love about Rochester is you can discover someone's art and then actually meet that person.

Right.

So I saw your stuff all around town, and I'm like, what is this?

And Then I would come in here and I saw the piece that Chris has up, and I'm like.

And then Quajay bought a piece.

So there I was taking pictures of her, not even realizing it was, like, a thing.

Kajay's the whole reason that I show my stuff.

That's, like, I went to so Reckless, showed, like, sent me pictures of Kajay's, like, Instagram, like, old drippy tags of mine.

I was like, oh, my God, that's so cool.

Like, so I saw that he had an art show on, like, West Main.

I was like, it was the last day, and I was like, you know what?

I'm gonna go.

Oh, yeah.

That was the one with the black.

And white photos and the viewfinders.

Viewfinders.

And there was a.

The last slide that I looked at was my tag.

Wow.

And I was like, oh, my God.

And that's where I saw it for the first time as well.

Was there?

Yeah.

And I, like, I, like, lost my mind.

I was like, whoa, this is so cool.

And then I signed his little book and, like, teeny tiny in the corner, no Fun Zone, and, like, a smiley face and, like, walked away.

And then, like, he messaged me, and he was like, oh, my God.

Yeah, it's awesome.

It was so distinct.

And then when I saw you at the art swap at Frank's, I'm like, I gotta buy a piece like this.

This is my opportunity.

Hell, yeah.

So what's the story behind the tag, behind how you started doing this?

Just educate us on how you got going.

I've always been around graffiti.

Like, you know, like, I went to high school with Crook.

I don't know if you.

Yeah, no.

So, yeah, like, I went to.

He, like, used to sit next to me and stuff.

So, like, I was always around it.

I wrote on, too, just, like, my little notebook, but never anything like him.

He's amazing.

But, yeah, no, I. I don't know.

And then, like, I traveled a little bit, and, like, you want to leave your mark, you know, Like, I've been here, like, so.

I don't know.

I'd leave my name, like, stupidly, but I spell it weird.

And, like, I've had people find it, like, in, like, Kansas and be like, did you stay at this hotel?

Like, what?

And then, so the no Fun Zone.

Like, a couple of my friends and I decided that, like, really stoned, that we were going to, like, be the fun police, and we were gonna give out tickets and, like.

And have, like.

And we were gonna have, like, no Fun Zone.

Like, like badges and like give out no fun tickets, you know.

And like, so that's kind of how it began.

Then we decided like, we.

We all like had tags and we're like tag weird places.

And that was gonna be like our crew.

And then they like kind of stopped writing.

And I was like, well, I'm.

I. I like how the words flow.

I like what it means to me.

Like, it reminds me of that fun time of us, like, gonna be like, no, you can't have fun.

You know, and it's just like.

It's silly.

But also like.

I don't know, like sometimes like I walk around a lot and I.

Like, some places are not fun, you know, like some.

Some like, there's like a.

Like on Monroe, like by blessed sacrament, when they had that glass, like bus stop or whatever.

Like, I used to try.

I used to tag in that because like all the bums would sit in there, piss and like, I mean like, whatever.

I was homeless.

I understand that.

But then I was pissed when they took the thing away.

Cause they didn't have anywhere to sit when it was like raining or cold or like, you know.

And they put these like benches that are like anti homeless benches where you can't lay on it.

And like.

So I wrote no fun zone all over them.

Cause it pissed me off.

You know, it all.

It really depends though.

It's awesome.

There's a beautiful irony to it because every time I see it, I'm like, this is fun, right?

But the fact that you choose like these canvases that almost, you know, resemble like the institution, like signs that are.

Put up and that's exactly.

No doing this, no doing that, no parking, no sitting.

It's almost like, boo those tomatoes.

Exactly.

Yeah.

No, totally, totally.

Absolutely.

And that's what I love about it too, because it has such a broad meaning, you know, like, it means so much.

I had like, someone tell me that their little kid like saw it and was like, I'm not allowed to have fun here.

And I met him and I was like, no, no, no, that's not what that mean.

That means where you're supposed to have fun.

You're supposed to like, not.

Not have fun.

How many pieces would you say you have up around the city or have done?

I. I have no idea.

Countless at this point.

Yeah, there's like random weird places.

That's like.

So like Nick.

Nick Koch, like, he.

He like Rock street photo.

He found my tag on an old car in Webster.

Wow.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

Yeah, they've been like, there's some in the woods, like random T trails and stuff because we used to hike all over the place.

There's so many.

So many different places.

Are you intentional about where you put it or is it just intuition?

I'm here, I'm feeling this.

Yep.

It's really like sometimes it's intentional, like I said, like the homeless.

But sometimes it's.

I feel like right now I need to.

I have like this compulsion to, like.

Right.

You know, like, I have to write it so.

Well, it's weird because it's.

I think it's like a lot of art where you don't know how somebody's going to react to it because the kid might see it and take it dead literally.

Right.

And I say when I saw it, it really resonated with me.

And my wife will often laugh at me because I'll use the same phrase as often.

But something I've said for a long time is that I don't like fun.

And as soon as I saw it, I'm like, I need something with that immediately.

Yeah, that's.

But I say it in recent.

I kind of want to explain is because it's something that means a lot to me that I do say it for a reason.

So I don't like, you know, big fun.

I don't like, fake the artifice of fun, the veneer of enjoying something.

Right.

I like to enjoy things so deeply and aggressively that, like, I have no chill with how much I love things.

And I want to.

I want to sit and luxuriate in it and really enjoy these things.

And to me, when I hear fun, I hear it as like, you know, it's fleeting.

It's the light stuff.

I just love that.

I love getting into the meat of things.

I love having a great conversation.

I love, you know, hey, if I'm tasting spirits, I want to sit and talk about it.

Right.

I'm not a shots guy.

I'm not a woo party guy.

I want to sit and talk about it and like, really live in it.

And for me, when I saw that, I'm like, oh, I'm not.

I know it wasn't the intention, but it's like, oh, that is me.

That's me.

And then I can have that so.

Much to me, like, I love that.

And I gotta say so and something.

You know, I think a lot of people who have seen clips from behind the Glass and other shows on Lunchadore, there is a no fun zone sign in the studio right behind you right now.

When I don't remember, I Remember we had the sign made and when you saw it in the video clips for the first time, how.

How did that make you feel?

I was like, oh, my God, like, what?

What?

Like, like, I don't know.

If you knew that I was gonna put it in behind everything and, like, have it in basically every video clip I can have it in.

No.

So, like, I mean, Nick kind of told me, but, like, I.

Like, I didn't.

And then, like, I saw it.

I was like, oh, my God.

Like, do you.

Do you see?

Like, yeah.

That's so cool.

That means a lot.

Thank you.

And it makes me happy.

Right?

It makes me happy having local st.

Here.

Yeah.

And not just.

It's not just a picture of the bridge.

It's not just, you know, the stuff that everybody has.

Right.

I want to reflect Rochester in the stuff that's in the studio because that means a lot to me.

And I know we're talking about doing some more work and making that wall bigger and more diverse and exciting, for sure.

So when you.

When you're doing not just the tagging, but when you're making pieces for people, how.

How is that gone?

Like, do you have.

Like, when people have.

Do they have requests?

Do they have.

How does that process go?

It's been happening more and more.

That's gotta be cool too.

Yeah, it really is.

It really is.

Because, I mean, like, so, like, in behind the Glass, I also put some of my collage stuff.

I do that as well.

I also, like, made commissions on that too.

But, like, the no fun zone.

Like, I'm not a muralist.

I'm not.

Like, my tag is kind of, like, kind of Basquiat, like, you know, like Samo.

Like that.

That's kind of how I feel.

It is so, like, doing commissions and, like, people wanting it and, like, how do you take that?

Like, how do you take that visceral, like, sign that I've written on, you know what I'm saying, the actual, like, thing, and translate it into something that someone wants, you know, like.

But I also wanted to, like, challenge myself and, like, learn new techniques and, like, I look up to.

I, like, I'm not good with spray paint.

I try, like, here and there, but I cannot, like, I have no can control whatever, you know?

But I want to challenge myself and, like, make myself do that more, you know, so that, I don't know, it gets really nerve wracking because I'm like, I don't know what you.

Like.

I try to get a general idea, though.

Like, I did a commission for Someone and they like an ophthalmologist, and they're like, can you do the, like, no funds?

The O's is like, eyes and, like, gave me the colors and stuff.

I'm like, that sounds really fun, actually.

Like, that's going to, like, challenge me in a different way, you know, like, nice.

So, yeah, yeah, it's.

It's.

It can be a very harrowing experience doing commissions.

I know plenty of people who have, you know, tried to make a living just doing commissions, and it can be very, you know, very disappointing sometimes where people don't understand that there is a process, there is creativity, and that the endless commentary doesn't help make something better.

Often giving.

Giving the artist a chance to express themselves.

Give them.

Give them part.

Give them a direction.

Right.

But then say, hey, you.

I like what you do.

Do the thing that you do great.

Right?

And that's.

I don't know, it's.

That has to be, like, from that side, when somebody says, I like what you do.

Here's an idea.

Go ahead.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it's cool and it's scary, and, you know, like, I mean, I. I have a lot of imposter syndrome, I guess, about it, you know, like, with.

Because I'm not like, a muralist like everybody else, or I'm not, you know, but I don't know, it's.

It's still really fun to like, put myself to the challenge of, like, doing something different.

And, like, I don't know, it means a lot to me that it means a lot to people, like, you know, like, in all different kinds of ways.

And what it means, like, one, I.

Think that's, like, in a lot of ways, like, when you go into a gallery, like, you know, Tom, like, when you're in the gallery and you see people looking at the work.

Yeah, right.

And it's.

I kind of want to talk about that, you know.

Yeah.

Actually, I think what we'll do, we're going to take our quick break.

We're going to come back and talk about that kind of.

That experience of seeing people perceive your work.

Yeah.

So we're going to do that, and we're going to be right back.

And welcome back to the behind the Glass podcast.

So we're gonna dive into kind of assessing how our artists felt displaying their work.

And like I said, we wanted to curate October in the spirit of the season, so to speak.

The season and Halloween is so much about provoking different emotions.

And I think the two artists that we're talking to right now intentionally do Things with their art to.

To provoke people.

So starting off with Tom, how did it feel to see people interacting?

Well, first, how did it feel to display your work in the gallery?

And then how did it feel seeing people kind of react to it as it was up and being there in real time?

Yeah, it was great to have the opportunity in the gallery.

It's actually the third one I've been in.

I got into Main Street Arts in Clifton Springs two years ago, and then I was in Abundance back in July.

Nice.

So I was in the cafe at Abundance, and that's how Richard saw my work.

And he was like, all right, like, let's get you in.

I love that.

I love that.

That was great.

So.

But this was the first time, like, I saw people really interact with it.

Because at, you know, Main Street Arts, like, I had only two pieces in it mixed in with a lot of other people.

So people were just mingling around.

Not really.

I have my own section.

Right.

And then at Abundance, we didn't do the first Friday.

Cause that was July 4th.

I didn't think there would be a good turnout.

So we did it another day and no one came.

So I sat there for two hours.

By myself, which, I mean, we've all done stuff like that before, where you create something and either nobody hears it or nobody sees it.

And those nights can be really.

Those are tough.

We've all had those, for sure.

So I was.

I was nervous going into it, you know, just to see how people would react.

Because I knew there was going to be a crowd coming through, you know, and it was.

It was amazing to experience.

I mean, the gallery is in a great place.

The whole building has a really cool vibe.

I was going out and taking pictures and doing some more of my intentional camera motion stuff while I was there.

Right.

You got to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.

Have you been downtown in that area much?

I did back in May.

I walked around a bit.

My daughter's dance was at the Innovation Square.

So when she was doing her rehearsals, I was like, well, I have two hours to kill.

I might as well just walk around downtown.

Right.

So I did some more photography downtown then.

And I was like, right around the corner.

I didn't get close to where Bergen Tile is, but I was, you know where Innovation Square is.

Yeah.

So.

But it was cool.

I did some more at night, too, when we left.

I took some more pictures before I left because I hadn't been there, like, at night yet.

Yeah, I gotta do more downtown in the city.

But to Watch people come through and just experience it and experience it in ways I didn't plan it, you know, because normally I have, like, a direction.

Right.

I want the image to convey something.

It is of something else.

And I can kind of gauge, you know, how others would react to it based upon how I've shown it to friends, family.

It's been other places.

So it was really cool to see how people just explored it in different ways.

Yeah.

One thing I always find interesting about showing and displaying work, you know, when I have done it, is the bounce that you get.

Creativity.

Creativity in your.

Creativity, creativity, creativity.

But no, I know that I.

Seeing how people react to the work, being around other artists and seeing their work that next day, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go out and shoot a whole roll.

Or I got this whole new idea.

Did you get a kind of a bounce or a win behind you to create more just from.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

No, it was great to see how my work, you know, compared to no fun zones and also Sundays.

Right.

It was such a diverse piece of, you know, a diverse collection in the gallery.

Right.

Completely different styles across the board.

And to watch people come through and just enjoy it all, you're like, all right, there's some energy here.

Right.

That's why I went out and did, you know, some liminal space stuff with the chess set that's just, you know, sitting there, just wide open thing, you know, taking pictures of empty escalators and empty parts of the room.

I was like, there's some good vibes here.

Let me get some creativity in now.

Yeah.

You know, while I'm here.

And then take that back and process it later.

So it was.

It was really cool.

Yeah.

It's always.

It's always fun experiencing that energy.

And I pose the same question to you.

No Fun Zone.

How did it feel having your stuff up in the gallery?

I know you said you don't look at yourself as a muralist, but I want to say the simplicity of your work is what makes it special.

So don't talk down on yourself too much.

We'll dig you up.

No, I appreciate that a lot in being in behind the Glass, such an honor.

That is one of the coolest.

But I've seen some amazing people in there.

I've come to many, many shows there.

And, like, when Richard hit me, I was like, oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Like, you know, I've shown stuff at, like, Frank's, and I did Abundance last.

Last summer.

I did Abundance.

Oh, cool.

Yeah.

And that was just my collage stuff, though.

That's it.

Being in behind the Glass, though, like, such an honor, is, like, so cool for me.

Like, it's like you're seen, you know?

Right, right.

And something different.

And it's really hard, too, like, with the graffiti aspect, like, kind of the.

No, Like, I don't really care so much.

Like, I know that I've done a lot of vandalism and stuff, but, like, you know.

You know what?

Here we are, you know?

Like, I don't know.

Like, I don't necessarily.

I'm pretty shy, too, so, like, it's really funny to, like, when people don't know who I am, to, like, listen to them, you know?

But sometimes that's also made me come out my shell and be like, hi, that's me.

You know, like, lots of the times it's pretty shocking to people.

So that's fun, too.

But, like, I don't know, it was really cool to see, like, different people that would, like, than would normally go into, like, Franks per se, you know, like, it's a whole.

It's a different audience.

Whole different audience.

And there is a lot of crossover.

Right.

There's been plenty behind the Glass people that have shown in Frank's, and.

But it is a different audience, right.

Like, Frank's is distinctly a street.

A street art audience.

Right, Exactly.

And that's great.

And it provides a platform for lots of different styles of street art to be presented.

But it is a different audience, and it can be exciting to be in front of, you know, that twisted, like, that different twist of an audience.

Yeah, for sure, for sure.

Super exciting.

How.

How did you choose the pieces that you displayed?

Really well.

The last.

The, like, the railroad ones are the most recent ones I've done, and I really, really like them.

I like the colors I used.

I like how the letters look.

You know, I'm getting better.

And, like, that's kind of what I see in it.

The.

The stencil one, I did that for.

For the first thanks to the Streets at Frank's.

And my nephew actually drew a picture on the back, which is really cool.

And they wanted to hang that.

And I was like, that's like, not mine.

So that one means a lot to me.

I used to do stencil a little bit more.

I do have one here and there.

I'll use it.

But that's just fun.

I like to play with it that a little bit.

And then I'm also a collage artist.

I do, like, poor painting and the collages and like, I.

Those two that I put in there, like, the two that I recently finished.

And that's.

That's a lot of fun for me.

That's like, I like words.

I like.

That's kind of why, like, I like the no Fun Zone thing too, you know, Like, I like words.

A lot of my collages have words in them or like poems or like, whatever.

Like the one currently at Frank's right now for Matt Bannerlee's service show is no Fun Zone on the stop sign.

Because, I mean, he gave me a stop sign.

So I'm like, I know what you want, but I'm like, other things.

I'll do the bit.

I'll do the bit because I gotta do the bit.

But.

Right.

Other things.

And that's what I wanted to do is combine kind of everything into that.

And that's what I wanted to do with behind the Glass as well, you know, Also the little army men, though, on the stop sign.

I. I do those and I used to, like, glue them around the Rochester, like, years ago.

They're the disco army.

It's fun.

So what I was kind of thinking about ending off with was, you know, it seemed like both you have grabbed, like, parts of you that drive the creativity.

Can you talk about, like, what, being a creative, like, aids to your life and then put your plugs in at the end too?

Like, because this, you know, both of you doing creativity in a very different way, but it's coming from different directions.

So, I mean, like, for you, it's.

You're saying you're a shy person, but you're very visible.

Right?

Like, what.

What about being creative helps, you know, is exciting for you as a person?

It helps me, like, put myself out there and like.

Like, kind of raw, like, you know, like, it.

And that helps me kind of come out of my shell.

Like, I've also, like, met so many insanely creative people in all different ways.

Like, like, what he does, like, meeting him, that was awesome.

Like, Sunny is probably hands down my favorite artist.

And Rochester, she is so talented.

Like that.

Pat's coffee mug, all the bricks on that.

And it felt.

It feels like you're walking up to Pat's coffee mug.

Because that place.

That place has such a distinct vibe.

Exactly.

And I love that.

I love how we're all.

Even though it's all different, we're still all the same and can see maybe normal people don't necessarily see the things that we see as creatives.

And I think that's really cool.

And that helps me realize that I'm not just.

I mean, I am a weirdo, but I'm not like, the only one, you know, like, other people are like, I.

Mean, you know, I gotta say, like.

And that's why, like, doing this, like, for me, as.

I've never considered myself a creative person, right?

And doing, Doing the recordings has allowed me the luxury of being around, like, one cool people, like, everybody in the room and getting to know people better.

But having that, having more people around makes you feel like, oh, there is the creativity of doing this and having a great discussion and living in it, Right.

And it.

I don't know, for me, it.

It's enhanced my life in so many ways.

And I. I love to hear that because it's.

It makes.

When people get to smile because they see your work.

Yeah, for sure.

What, What a cool thing.

Yeah, for sure.

Exactly.

Exactly.

It's that experience of finding community.

Yeah, that too.

Yeah, absolutely.

And the gallery always does that.

And that's what I love about it.

Showing up, you know, and just meeting people that I either know or don't know.

Yeah.

Network.

So.

Yeah, it's same question to you, Tom.

What is.

What is creativity done for you?

Like, how does it help you in your life having that as an expression?

You know, it gives me more to be well rounded, right?

Like, I'm just not doing my job.

I'm just not going home.

I mean, I love my family, right.

I love taking care of my family, but it gives me that, like, other outlet of emotion that I don't have otherwise and allows, you know, that expression and to show a vulnerability too, right?

Because you create something, you don't know how anyone's gonna like it.

And the.

When I started putting stuff out there, you know, it's like, is anyone even gonna care about this?

Like, you know, you gotta take that step and to be vulnerable and be open.

And then once you get, like, that positive feedback, it's like being on stage, right?

When you get this on stage and, like, you see people moving the audience.

As a musician, like, that just gets you to go harder, right?

So it's the same thing with the visual too, that when you get that audience feedback, you're like, all right, let's go.

Like, I can dig into this.

Like, let's explore.

And it just.

It's so fulfilling, you know, as a human, to create something and have other people enjoy it.

I think that's step two of the creation process.

I think most creatives are shy and reserved and we create in, like, our bubbles and we kind of do it for ourselves at first.

Right, right, exactly.

But then step two is like, okay, let me present this to an audience.

And to see that audience connect with it, it's almost like the mind blowing moment.

Like, oh, like this is what this is for.

It's not for me anymore.

Yeah, yeah.

And that's.

I, I, I kind of want to end over that because we, we end up going a lot of interesting directions tonight and we don't, we don't often get into like the philosophical on the show because it's a panel thing.

We, we don't have as much time, but we're able to noodle a little bit tonight.

Rob.

It's the Rob Robin Chris show.

The Robin Criss show.

Yeah.

Now we need more sound effects.

Wait a second.

Nah.

Shout out to Richard, shout out to Q.

You know, the original curators.

I've been blessed to come on and meet great artists like we have tonight.

And again, shout out to Sunny, who couldn't be here tonight.

Definitely, definitely miss having her here.

She was a big part of why the show was so successful.

100%.

Any last.

Yeah, plug yourselves, you know, let people know where they can see more of your work, your Instagram, how they can get in touch, all that.

My Instagram is no fun zone Arts with a Z and N junk.

That's where you can see all my art, the collage and tags and other.

And anywhere you are in Rochester.

Yeah, for sure.

And Lunchadore Podcast Studios right here in my house.

That's right, exactly.

How about you?

Tomorrow?

Yeah.

So on Instagram, I am Distorted Reality IO.

My website is distortedreality IO.

You can reach me, you know, through direct message or email.

Tom distortedreality IO.

Nice.

Nice.

Yeah, Rob, we were coming up on the rest of the month like we said.

You can still go visit the gallery for the rest of the month.

Please do.

It's open most you can view whatever times Mercantile and Maine is open down on Main Street.

Please stop in and let us know if those 3D glasses aren't there.

Tom will provide more.

I left three pairs.

Hopefully they're all still there.

Yeah.

Unless you know a bunch of people got them comic books you talking about.

They probably still should be there.

But please go check out the work of these talented artists.

And yeah, till next time.

Yeah, I think that's it.

So I just wanted to also for the lunch at our podcast network, definitely want you to check out some of the other shows.

That's the bossy Roc show.

Kelly Metris and Kelly Bush from Salinas and Union Tavern, you know, and Merchant Street Merchants Grill, they are doing an amazing show.

If you haven't listened to it yet, I really recommend you check it out.

They're talking about business, but they're doing it in a really honest, vulnerable way.

They've had some great conversations with industry experts.

Business business experts.

And they've been very revealing.

It's really great stuff.

I really want everybody to check it out and vote for Bossi Roc for Best Podcast in Rochester.

Really appreciate it.

For the lunch at our podcast, can.

I say one more thing?

Oh, please.

One more plug before we go.

Go for it.

Behind the Glass has been nominated for best art Gallery.

Oh yeah.

And the Best of Rochester with City Magazine.

So please give us that vote.

And our own Richard Colon and Quadjay are both nominated for best photographer for Best of Rochester.

So they having a little war online.

Both saying to vote for the other one.

Cause they being humble but you know, please show some love.

Both of those dudes have been working hard, not only on their own stuff, but really providing platforms for people to be seen and be felt.

So I always want to give them the flowers on that and behind the glasses a part of that.

So I had to throw that plug.

Oh, I'm glad you did.

No, I'm glad you did.

I completely forgot about that side.

So yeah, go and vote for everything you love in Rochester.

Sure.

It is a voting thing.

Everybody really appreciates it when you support the things you love in the best way you can.

And supporting behind the Glass, Richard Colon, Claudia Dinelle, Bossy Roc.

When you vote for Best of Rochester.

And we'll be back next time with.

More behind the Glass.

This has been a presentation of the Lunchadore podcast network.

If you did steal the 3D glasses, I recommend going to watch a terrible movie like Jaws 3D.