“Stuffmaker” sounds vague, even a little conceited. Anyone can make “stuff”. But artist Mac Premo does just that: his collage sculptures and prints incorporate wood, resin, paper, glue, film, photographs, and sound. They’re genuine and quirky. One installation is activated by sticking your head inside a hole: it’s titled “Totally Stick Your Head in This Hole”. Dutch filmmaker Bas Berkhout captures Premo’s approach and journey as a professional artist in this short film.
Premo grew up across the U.S., moving between D.C., California, and New Jersey. After graduating from RISD in ‘95, he moved to Brooklyn. He wrote and created everything for his one-man show titled The Luckiest Arab in Belfast. Premo was inspired to create the show after a gallery opening of his: he felt his work lacked a direct relationship with the audience, up on the white walls. He sought to correct this with this play.
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Both scared by and fascinated with death, Premo is trying to figure out what we’re doing here, like the rest of us. Premo says that “To be the arbiter of good stories is to live forever”, a lesson he hopes to hand down to his two daughters. His stuff tells curious, intriguing stories so that he might be able to worry about death a little less. “We walk through life intellectually knowing of the vastness and uselessness of existence — and on a micro scale…really giving a shit about tiny things.” So go ahead: stick your head in that hole.