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Corinne Halbert
2.1k Plays1 year ago
Corinne Halbert is a psychedelic horror artist with an extensive book collection. Her work is heavily influenced by an avid obsession with 1970s cult films and vintage comics. She's the creator of Acid Nun.
Unedited production note from host Ken Volante “Whoa. What a ride. Zines, horror movies, found footage, dealing with tough things, Steven Seagal, old magazines, Electric Wizard, ACID NUN and more."
Acid Nun is available here, or inquire at your local bookstore.
Check out her website: https://corinnehalbert.com/
Follow on instagram @corinnehalbert
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Delante. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
Quimby's Bookstore Memories
00:00:19
Speaker
So are you in Chicago now? Yes. So of course, Quimby's bookstore over there.
00:00:30
Speaker
in Chicago you have, right? Yeah, I worked there for six years. Okay.
00:00:38
Speaker
The Something Rather Than Nothing podcast scene made it onto the shelves a few months ago. Oh, my God, that's great. And now a wonderful bookstore. I watch, sorry, everybody, Quimby's bookstore in Chicago. One of the most amazing places I've ever seen in my entire life. A lot of scenes and small publishing and just incredible variety of everything. I was there, Corinne,
00:01:06
Speaker
And I found a book called Kathy Acker in Seattle. I adore Kathy Acker. Yeah, I adore Kathy Acker. It kind of talked about her time in Seattle and around Riot Girls and like the scene that was going on there and some of her influence within it. And around that time,
The Kathy Acker Book and Riot Grrrl Scene
00:01:27
Speaker
I was talking to Mark J. Palm and just kind of connecting more. And I'd seen like a whole kind of scene over that way. So I just thought it was just so great that a bookstore has a book like Kathy Acker in Seattle and just kind of led me on a path to really explore. You know, just a whole scene. But you worked there for six years. Probably a quick, weird question. But what was your experience like?
00:01:58
Speaker
Oh my God, I love Quimby's. It's one of my favorite places on earth. I'm really good friends with my boss.
Quimby's Bookstore During the Pandemic
00:02:06
Speaker
She's worked there for over two decades as the manager, Liz Mason, and I love her, my coworkers. I mean, it's retail, so it has its ups and downs, but I always looked at it as if I'm going to work a retail job. That's pretty much
00:02:27
Speaker
you know, the best it's going to get. And I had a really wonderful experience. I learned so much and just deeply inspiring to see all the zines and books and everything roll in every week. That's one of the things I miss the most about not working there is just having access to all that new new material for, you know, inspiring art creation. Yeah, they do a great Saturday morning
00:02:58
Speaker
Well, it's Saturday morning out in the Pacific Northwest. It might be like noon or one o'clock, like every week of what's new. And it's like 15, 20. I mean, talk about a great use of like, you know, social media because I was like Saturday morning, late Saturday morning cartoons here for me. You know, like it's a late, late morning, just like watching all this new stuff. I don't catch it every week, but
Meet Karen Halbert: Psychedelic Horror Artist
00:03:24
Speaker
it's like now I know what's in Quimby's you know like that week and it has this kind of fresh and vital feel to it you know hell yeah so Liz and I well it was Liz's idea of course she's the manager we started that during the pandemic together uh and then of course when I left you know there's uh new fabulous people doing it and it's such a great resource because that way it's like gonna give you ideas of what you want to pick up from the store you know what new um
00:03:54
Speaker
zines comics and books are out there so they do such a great job it's uh really a treasure for the community chicago is incredibly lucky to have quimby's bookstore amen on that everybody we're talking with karen halbert and i want to tell you um about her she has a short bio but i love the bio because i read the bio and i started jumping probably karen halbert is a psychedelic horror artist with an extensive book collection
00:04:22
Speaker
Her work is heavily influenced by an avid obsession with 1970s cult films and vintage comics. She is the creator of Acid Nun.
00:04:32
Speaker
All right, that's how you write, that's how you write an intro. And love it. And then I, I had encountered ass and none before, but just for me, getting closer to your art and looking at it, the color, the wildness, I adore strange movies, I adore comic books, I adore garbage pale kids, I adore vampires and fangs and
00:05:01
Speaker
It's all there somehow. And we started talking and it's Quimby's and one of my favorite places in the world as well. And you're from Massachusetts. I'm from Rhode Island. So here we go. Great to have you on. Thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. All right. So when, uh, people see your stuff or they're talking about, you know, your art, they're talking about acid none.
The Making of 'Acid Nun'
00:05:26
Speaker
What's, what's acid none and where did it come from?
00:05:29
Speaker
Oh man. So, um, I have been doing my own zines and comics since approximately 2009. So, you know, we're, we're working on about 14 years here. I've self published over 30, somewhere around 30, you know, zine comic type booklets. Some of those have been collaborations with other people, uh, such as my husband, Scott R. Miller.
00:05:58
Speaker
we've done a few zines together and you know I'm a real slow and steady wins the race kind of gal and I when I was a child I was absolutely obsessed with all cartoons I mean anything with like really intense graphic black line work and then of course the color but with comics I love black and white comics and color comics but
00:06:26
Speaker
One of the things that draws me in is the line work. And so I just I love the aesthetic of comics and cartoons. I have really been obsessed with them since childhood. And so Acid Nun sort of came about. It took about a year and a half for me to complete it.
00:06:47
Speaker
It started out as self-published individual comic issues one through three a trilogy and the reason I did that was because Breaking it down into smaller pieces is what was what made it Easier for me to actually accomplish the task of doing a graphic novel So the whole time I planned it to be you know a collected story You know my first graphic novel
00:07:15
Speaker
And I was lucky enough to start working with Silver Sprocket on it. They're an incredible publisher. I love everything they put out is just fantastic. They are the bomb. And they were just a joy to work with. I worked with an incredible editor, Ari Yarwood, which was really awesome experience. And I think the book is all the better for that, you know, having an editor and
00:07:45
Speaker
It's fiction. It's fantasy. But there are some auto bio threads in there. And long story short, I've had a lot of tragic, familial deaths at a very young age. And then in 2019, my stepfather, who was basically my favorite person on planet Earth, just died all of a sudden. Oh, gosh. It just ripped open.
00:08:15
Speaker
all the grief I hadn't, you know, uh, wasn't able to process because the other deaths of my father and my grandmother happened when I was, I was very young, you know?
Art, Grief, and Healing Through 'Acid Nun'
00:08:26
Speaker
And so it just sort of compounded into this. Um, I got to a very dark place and you know, I, I started having to do some serious work on myself and, and within that process,
00:08:39
Speaker
Um, you know, I, that's sort of how acid non started. Um, there's some other artists that I greatly look up to. I don't know if you're familiar with Matthew Allison. He, um, did a book called Cancor. Um, which I think is, he's one of the best artists working right now is brilliant. And, you know, there's some other sources of inspiration. Um, you know, like the comics and, and weird movies.
00:09:07
Speaker
And I went to Catholic school and, you know, it all sort of collided together to just like needing to make this story as sort of a part of my own catharsis. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I, um, I, uh, I, I could, I could really feel what you're saying of like at that moment, somebody that important to you, you know, and the other things you didn't experience in the same way. Cause you were so young and, um,
00:09:36
Speaker
I think, I think what would come up or what you drop into as an artist, there has to be so important, whether the images are confusing or clear or what you need to get out or put out there. I think that's the challenge in whatever that content was for you. Amen. Just incredible to you to do that, you know, to be like, this is what that is. I think
00:10:01
Speaker
And talking to a lot of artists, I think part of the struggle, and I didn't say for myself, is sometimes the what and the how that comes out, you'd be like, eh, I can't even. But I think when you create into something like you have, it's, I don't, it's just that much more, so. Thank you so much. Yeah. And you know, it's, it's, it's, there's more to it than just the familial deaths, you know, um,
00:10:30
Speaker
There's other stuff that is unfortunately over my years of, you know, sort of spinning on, uh, you know, fight or flight or whatever you want to call it, uh, getting myself into some situations in relationships that, you know, we're pretty traumatizing. Um, so it's all in there, you know, and, um, but I, I thought it was really important to make it
00:10:58
Speaker
I wanted to be a story of triumph and sort of pulling yourself out of a dark place because I just think a lot of people out there suffer from various levels of mental illness, anxiety, depression, all these things, prolonged grief, delayed grief. And I was hoping to make a story that could help people not feel so alone in that
00:11:27
Speaker
uh, space, you know, and, um, cause like healing. The concept of healing is very important to me. It's important to me on a personal level and on a community level as well. Um, and you know, I've had a lot of people reach out to me, you know, saying that the book meant a lot to them in that capacity. And that's basically, you know, all I could ever ask for. Yeah.
00:11:52
Speaker
Well, and thank you for that. And thank you. I mean, one of the things in talking about art and creating and where great things come from, you know, they very much can come from that. And so I appreciate you talking about it. It's very much part of, you know, how we do things. So, yeah, I just, you know, so, and the thing is too,
00:12:19
Speaker
There's this kind of these things I've been into, like, looking more at cult films. I had a guest on the show, Dakota New. And I just kind of follow some of his weird movie suggestions. I've dropped into, like, found footage channel on YouTube. Oh, God. My husband works with those guys. He does strange tapes.
00:12:41
Speaker
Oh my, okay, I don't even know. I gotta run backwards here to go forwards. I knew this was gonna happen two or three times. You and I creating this thing, we can do whatever the heck we want.
Influences and Background of Karen Halbert
00:12:55
Speaker
So I'll just say for myself, I out here, both myself and maybe some other people I'm coming in contact with, really dropping in freely to,
00:13:08
Speaker
found footage, zines about strange movies, reading deeply into these bizarre things that have been created, weird books, all this incredible stuff. But I couldn't believe how much absolutely hilarious material in the found footage. Oh, yeah. I'm going to like I.
00:13:35
Speaker
I haven't watched it this week, but I realized I had a difficult week and I got to have it on for two hours because I laughed my ass off. And I recognize some of the stuff, you know, like some of the stuff from the eighties. It's like a little too close for me. So so he works on the tell me again, he works on the. So he.
00:13:58
Speaker
He does a zine called Strange Tapes. And then he has a YouTube show also called Strange Tapes. And so they have started branching out. And they have, I can't remember the person's name. They have somebody, Midnight Rentals. They have a couple other sort of sub shows. I watch them all. I watch them all. I get the zines. In the back corner of this room are the zines.
00:14:28
Speaker
Awesome. Yeah, so he'll do it's been it's been about once a month, you know He'll do a new strange tapes YouTube show and then they air it on the found footage festival Channel and then you know, he has special guests and interviews people I was on an episode that was really fun. I pretended to be him. I wore like a beard I Got my homework today It was really funny
00:14:58
Speaker
Wow. Thank you for opening up all these doors for listeners and myself. Absolutely. As we go along here, plenty to drop in and out of. Let me ask, let's like, you know, to make it completely legit, ask one of the bigger questions. I wanted to ask you, you know, talking about your experience of producing acid, none in your art, you know, everything that you put into it.
00:15:23
Speaker
But I wanted to ask you what, what is art? What do you think art is? It's such an interesting question and it's such a, you know, every artist person you talk to could potentially give you a different answer. And I don't think any of them are necessarily right or wrong. For me,
00:15:45
Speaker
It's a lot of things. It's a form of communication. It is getting in touch with my subconscious, making the things within my subconscious become conscious. It's therapeutic. It's joy. It's toil. It's pain. I mean, it's everything. It's like the whole spectrum of the human experience.
00:16:14
Speaker
And, you know, I have been drawing and painting my whole life. You know, I started drawing when I was like three. And I was very avid about it all through childhood. You know, in high school, I knew I wanted to go to art school. You know, I had a brief period of time. I read all these Madeleine L.
Film Influence on Karen's Art
00:16:34
Speaker
Engel books when I was a child. And there was like this short period of time where I wanted to be a marine biologist.
00:16:40
Speaker
Um, uh, because, you know, I grew up on the East coast, a lot of game card activity. Um, but it was always artists, you know, and then I went to get my, you know, undergrad, uh, at, uh, my BFA at mass art, Massachusetts college of art. And I actually got that in film video. And so that's where I was able to work with amazing teachers, uh, Saul Levine and Mark Lepore, two of my favorite teachers of all time.
00:17:09
Speaker
Mark is no longer with us sadly But they started to introduce me to like weird movies, you know high art movies, you know Jean Cocteau Maya Darren All the just full spectrum of you know avant-garde yeah Stan brackage, you know all that stuff and
00:17:33
Speaker
Then I took a few years off and I ended up, I knew I wanted to go to graduate school because initially I wanted to teach art on a college level. And, you know, things sort of changed for me in that department. So I mean, maybe someday, but I'd like to do that maybe when I'm like older. But I got my MFA in painting and drawing at school, the art student. That's what brought me out to Chicago.
00:17:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's incredible. I once you said um, the the film in video I could see in my head the That that some of those panels are totally film stills that you do and I had it Yes until you said that I didn't pick up on what I was seeing but then I was like, oh my gosh Those are film still so really I could see that now. Yeah. Yeah, and and the connection between film, you know screenwriting You know
00:18:28
Speaker
when they do the you know the artwork that they base the scenes on and comics it's like so connected in terms of storytelling um so it's really i feel it's really great that they feed into each other i thought that was that's so helpful to point out because like i said i could pick up and see and i think i was much younger when i first realized um the dynamic of the still versus that within motion in recognizing
00:18:59
Speaker
my adoration of Stanley Kubrick was that there were so many museum photos
00:19:07
Speaker
in the movie and they were strung together. Like there were so many beautiful photos that he saw an absolute clarity like that image. And then you would have what I think is the revelation is that these are strung together and start to look like, yeah, that's the piece for me, recognizing the still and then that. And I love that because I love film and I love the panels that you peel through, right? So it's, how do I do it?
00:19:35
Speaker
Yeah, no, I that's why, you know, in my bio, I have the thing about, you know, having the book collection and my obsession with, you know, cult film, horror film, you know, the cinema in general, because I all that stuff I, you know, I use for references in my work and it's, you know, it all feeds together. All those interests, all those obsessions is basically, you know,
00:20:03
Speaker
through some sort of filter and then somehow I make my art. Yeah, I know it's great and thanks for helping me see certain things a little bit differently too. I think that's that's that's part of the part of the jazz.
Horror and Art as Societal Reflection
00:20:21
Speaker
I love horror myself. There's a kind of think there's a sub genres within the show. I've done over 180 episodes.
00:20:31
Speaker
But one of them is is horror and I guess it's even a little bit more narrow. It's Friday to 13th fan films. I've had a couple of the folks who do that. But I've had some some others, you know, strong horror themes when it comes to movies in.
00:20:47
Speaker
The strangest ones that I see, they're definitely in the horror genre. I dive deep into that. I just always loved that stuff and glad to kind of pull some of those images and such there. I wanted to ask you, related to, and I wanted to see a little bit more about what you think
00:21:14
Speaker
the role of art is. And there's just one other piece of the question, like whether that's changed recently, I talked to artists and sometimes they're like 2023 walk outside and you know, you're going to see eight weird ass things in like 10 minutes. It's just the things seem strange or things are changing or the the climate. And but
00:21:38
Speaker
What is the role of art and is there any any tweaks to it lately in your thinking? Yeah, you know, I think art is incredibly important to the core of society. It's one of the most important things to me, you know, aside from spending time with loved ones, the act of creation on any level is pretty much my absolute favorite thing to do on this earth.
00:22:08
Speaker
And you know, I think the role of art, it can be whatever you want it to be. I think it's a mirror. I think, you know, it's a channel to help people access things in their subconscious or things that they maybe don't want to look at or deal with. It can sort of act as an agent to bring things to the surface, you know, and it's certainly a reflection of
00:22:38
Speaker
like I mentioned earlier, just that, that full scope, that full range of emotions and experiences that we have, it's not like, you know, it's not like you have a good day every day. It's not like you have a bad day every day. Now, of course, there are some people out there that do have a bad day every day. And I, right, I have so much empathy for that experience. But most people
00:23:03
Speaker
you know, it's going to be a pretty wide range of experiences and emotions. And, you know, how do we cope with existing on this earth, you know, and I think I almost feel like art is like the candy, you know, it's like, it's just like that delicious sweet treat that you get to soothe your mind with. At least that's
00:23:26
Speaker
the experience for me or on the other side of the track, like that sour candy where you're like, oh, I hadn't thought about it that way. And now I'm having this heavy revelation. I do think we are in a giant transition right now, both astrologically and on a society level. And I have no idea how this is going to pan out.
00:23:52
Speaker
I really hope it's going to be better for more people. Uh, you know, the AI art thing is obviously like really intense, especially how it came on like a ton of bricks, like a ton of bricks, audio, video, all of it. Yeah.
AI's Impact on Art
00:24:10
Speaker
So, you know, I think there probably will be some good applications for it, but,
00:24:17
Speaker
You know, just taking any image on the internet and feeding it into a machine or like an app, like putting artists name and drop down menus. I mean, there's some extreme moral questions I have there. Yeah. Like of use right from the get go or where the images come from. They don't come from. There's no robot hand. There's no robot hand that originated the.
00:24:42
Speaker
you know, there's no AI hand that originated the thing. It's when I've had discussions been that there's human hands in the content and the content and the creation. So it's, uh, it's definitely tricky. I got an email yesterday about podcast and then just, I, these ideas that come in right off the bat. I was like, what the heck can you do now? But it was like, if I, if we were talking right now and, um, I don't know, I wanted to like,
00:25:09
Speaker
Redo or place in it kind of creates this whole thing of my voice and then I could just place in my voice and say different things at different times without saying them and I'm like whoa my goodness like so now is it like a Collage that I can is all rather strange. I didn't process So it's not even like a natural conversation anymore. It's like a polished conversation and
00:25:35
Speaker
Well, it's like there's like these filters to take out the, you know, the ums and the us. I talk like I'm from, I talk like I'm from Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Like if you get down to it with you, my accent will drop more into it. I ain't going to change that shit. Yeah. I love your accent. I was very comforted when I heard your episode with Mark J. Palm. Cause I was like, Oh my God, he has to be from New England.
00:25:57
Speaker
like know what to my accent would have dropped more in because I kind of gush over Marj palm but like is because um I was immediately so comfortable like I'm talking to my buddy on a couch and we're playing a video a video game so I would just kind of like got into that but
00:26:16
Speaker
Mark J. Palm, while we're on it, has created the first, what I think one of the first or few podcast superheroes. So this podcast has created a superhero. My idea that Mark J. Palm has realized for me is cyborg gorillas, a cyborg Harambe revenge gorilla.
00:26:40
Speaker
And this cyborg karambi, which will be revealed soon, created by Mark J. Palm as SRTN, something rather than nothing rocket on the right arm. Very intimidating, very splashing to the world. First podcast superhero, maybe.
Collaborations and Silver Sprocket's Role
00:26:59
Speaker
So that's so cool. I love him. He is such a great guy. Incredible artist, one of the hardest working
00:27:08
Speaker
cartoonists out there and his work is just phenomenal and he's just a really wonderful person. I was lucky enough to get to hang out with him out in Seattle and he's just literally just the kindest, sweetest soul. Yeah, I talked to him here and I've made big connections and I've been getting a lot of his art.
00:27:30
Speaker
And, uh, very excited. I'm going to be able to go up to Seattle for, uh, for, uh, a few days, uh, later in March. So I'm going to meet up with, with Mark and, uh, maybe we can start creating a cyborg Harambe costume or something like that. Oh my God. That's incredible. It's going to get weird. And I figured I'd recruit him and now I'm talking to you. I don't know what we'll do, but we'll go.
00:27:55
Speaker
We'll go somewhere with, we'll go somewhere with all this. I love it. Yeah. Um, I wanted to, um, I wanted to mention and see, uh, maybe it was a little bit to draw people to, um, your work, uh, and with Silver Sprocket, I encountered Silver Sprocket, um, I don't know, just a few years ago and it might've been up in Seattle at some shop or wherever I was. And, um,
00:28:23
Speaker
A great jump out at your art, politically vibrant, just like electric energy, great pins and things.
00:28:34
Speaker
And when I saw that they were doing publishing, um, just seeing that the, the care they put to the artists and, uh, what they, what they create. So as far as getting, uh, your stuff, um, acid, none and zines, um, where, where do folks go for that? I just want to make sure I don't miss that. Uh, yeah.
00:28:56
Speaker
Yeah, so the Silver Sprocket website, they have an online shop. And you can order my book through their website at their store. I always recommend getting in touch with your local indie comic book, comic and bookshops. Like, Quimby's, of course, carries my book, Forbidden Planet. It's been a desert island. So you can always try. And I think supporting
00:29:26
Speaker
Of course, supporting Silver Sprocket, please do it. But you also want to support your small shops, so they stay open. So you can always give them a call, see if they carry my book. I have my own big cartel shop that's on my website. I do everything just through my name, which is Corinne Halbert. So like my website is CorinneHalbert.com.
00:29:53
Speaker
And I unfortunately don't do international shipping just because it got really stressful and expensive for me.
Strange Tapes and Cult Film Culture
00:30:03
Speaker
So I had to take that off my plate. I mean, I only have so much energy because I do everything myself. It's a lot. You try to give as much service as you can.
00:30:17
Speaker
Well, yeah, thanks for that. I definitely have I definitely have a couple more questions, but I'm gonna indulge myself and you had mentioned your husband in the strange tapes Strange tape scene now I can tell you that my contact with all that wonderful content like I was gonna be like
00:30:39
Speaker
Yo, you want to come on this show, but could you tell can you tell can you tell us a little bit about this is like maybe just so folks can know like where to find like strange tape stuff. I love it so much. I can't believe I can't believe that like I'm sticking my nose up against the door and being like, it's right here. So I feel like I feel like I'm looking it through the window. You can open this bookstore soon. But could you just tell us, you know, all of whatever you can and what about that? Yeah.
00:31:08
Speaker
No, Strange Shapes is awesome. It's an incredible zine where he, you know, he's invited a lot of his friends, you know, he's done interviews, he has guest writers. It's absolutely amazing. He did this, I think it's sold out, but he did a kind of offshoot called Cinema Grab-Ass.
00:31:29
Speaker
that I did. I got a copy. I got a copy. I got a copy instead of a grab. That has my favorite movie review I've ever done of under siege. Yes. Yes. Okay. This is so familiar right now. You know, we watched under siege together and I was so pumped up after watching that movie. I loved it so much. It was so fun. It's so absurd.
00:31:56
Speaker
And then I just, my best movie reviews come when I just like write it immediately after. And, um, you know, he published it in there and then there's a hilarious bit about, um, Oh God, what's that awful carrot top movie? He tried to make me watch carrot top chairman of sport. You know, I was just like, there's certain movies that just irritate me, um, to this level that I just, I actually sort of get angry.
00:32:26
Speaker
And I got about two minutes into chairman and the board and I was like, I can't watch this movie. I'm going to go crazy. You go back to under siege. You don't know how many parties I killed if I'm talking about like Tolstoy and Plato. And then I launch into Seagal and I think it's a party killer, but I'm still going just like I was. Oh, my God.
00:32:50
Speaker
I mean, I love his movies. I don't know what his whole story is. I don't I don't even pretend to know any of that. Yeah, but his movies are just we actually just watched one from I think 2009 called a dangerous man. It was
00:33:12
Speaker
It was so fun. It wasn't quite the under siege level. It's not the best production value, but it was a similar level of fun.
Embracing Chaos in Art
00:33:23
Speaker
And so that was a really, really hilarious one. Within the first like five minutes of the movie, like eight years of stuff happens. Like they're rolling. They're still rolling. This is a weird time frame. Give me three months, eight years. I can't even put into a decade.
00:33:43
Speaker
is really funny. I mean, and then just some of his, some of his one liners and like, you know, uh, his speaking parts. He truly is the man. You know what I mean? He truly is the man. Wow. Um, but it, I tell you, go ahead, go ahead. Oh, just to get back to, you know, the question was about strange tapes. So he has, you know, and I, I do most of my, um, posting and stuff.
00:34:13
Speaker
most heavily on Instagram. And that's just my name, you know, Corinne Halbert. And then he has his Instagram page, which I think is StrangetapesZine. And so he does a lot of posting on there. He's got the YouTube channel, which I believe is also StrangetapesZine. And then he's got a big cartel shop, StrangetapesZine, where he sells his zines. And he also sometimes does
00:34:42
Speaker
VHS releases like he just did one for an amazing film called computer hearts with his buddy lunch meat So yeah, he does incredible stuff. So I can't recommend that enough. I can't recommend it enough folks and I would say that the zines are in the back order of the room that I'm recording and I would also say behind my improv to sound buffer of the studio studio there is
00:35:12
Speaker
I can't remember which one exactly there right behind this wall is a Seagal VHS tape that I can visually see So like this is many this is some sort of sanctuary the VHS is behind it so thank you for the very personal indulgence in everybody listening if you have a chance or you need to have a
00:35:35
Speaker
Good laugh and some fun at some wild amazing and sometimes very absurd material Appreciate it for what it is. It's it's not a waltz through the park. It's kind of like you got to dig through
00:36:02
Speaker
You get a you get a just kind of way through the swamp. It's not it's not a wall. Yeah No, you got it. You got to meet it where it's at. You know what I mean? All right, that's your that sets our from Corinne and Ken that's your cultural Input and cultural flow for now. I got to ask you the the big question of this show and Let you take a crack at it Why is there something rather than nothing? Well
00:36:32
Speaker
See, I want to like weave in and out of this because I think sometimes nothing is the great starting point to get something. And it's always nice to have something rather than nothing. I think the coolest thing about artists is that they literally are in a lot of ways creating something out of nothing. Like it didn't exist before.
00:37:00
Speaker
You know, it's not really out of nothing because it's from their, you know, internal landscape, their memories, their desires. So that is something. But you literally are creating something sort of out of thin air. It didn't, it didn't exist before. And now it exists. And that's sort of one of the most powerful things that human beings can do in this world. And
00:37:26
Speaker
I'm happy that I get to live a life where I'm fortunate enough to be able to just diligently work on my paintings, comics, writing, because the act of creation is just the most important thing to me, aside from the people that I love in my life.
00:37:48
Speaker
Oh, well, thank you so much for that. I, uh, I, I thought about the question just in the general way, speak about, I've, I thought about it from, from the get go in that way, as far as like the idea of creation. And no, it's not that there's nothing, nothing there, but there is nothing that you've transformed into something different. You pulled sound into ear like we are right now, or you've, you know, dropped the ink onto the.
00:38:17
Speaker
onto the blank paper and it looks this way now and I think there's something like right at that point. I like that point. Another thing I wanted to say Corinne is
Karen's Nostalgic Influences and Art Collection
00:38:28
Speaker
not too many folks have answered like the what is art question the way you did like art is this, art is this, art is this and I just love that because
00:38:40
Speaker
I'm a philosopher, so I think about I want to string together the words and how is the beauty created and how this, but not too many folks answer it that way. And just like those declarations, like were really helpful to me, like you hear them and it's like, oh, it is this and it is this and it is this. So I just, I'm so glad. Yeah. I really, I really enjoyed it.
00:39:04
Speaker
I wanted to, I wanted to ask you and it seems like a cliche question and it is a bit indulgent, but you said you had like, you know, just this great, like this big book collection. And one of the things with like cult films is that nobody knows about them. Like nobody, not nobody, but you know, people are in the scene know these cause they're classic, but like,
00:39:30
Speaker
Well, could you mention just like a few of the type of things like for folks as far as like that have been like impactful on you, uh, with, within that or within your collection? Because I know how you relate to the things that you'll talk about. So that's why I'm asking. Yeah, absolutely. So the things I like to collect at the very top of the list is original art.
00:39:55
Speaker
I am not sort of in the financial situation at the moment that I can collect on that level that I'd like, but I have a pretty extensive original art collection. I actually have an original Al Columbia, which is basically my prized possession, because he's one of my top three favorite artists. You know, I have a Heather Benjamin, I have a bunch of Gregory Jacobson. I have, you know, quite a few original pieces that I'm very, very near and dear to my heart.
00:40:24
Speaker
And then comics, zines, books. I like vintage. Even within that, there's different subsets. I collect vintage paperbacks. I collect vintage smut. I have those like, I have them actually right here, like Bizarre and Exotique, those fetish, like John Willie artwork, those fetish books that have been collected of the old magazines.
00:40:54
Speaker
And then I also collect a ton of vintage magazines, a lot of women's magazines, like McCall's, but also things like Movie Star Parade, you know, from the 1930s all the way up to the 70s. Those are fascinating. Yeah. And, you know, I use those as reference in my artwork. And I'm very particular about aesthetics, you know,
00:41:20
Speaker
And I should mention also that when I was a kid growing up, my mom and my dad got divorced like right before my third birthday. And that's why we left Alaska to go to Massachusetts. And we lived with my grandparents who helped take care of my brother and I for about nine years, something like that. Because when we moved out, I was 11.
00:41:47
Speaker
Um, but anyways, my grandparents house, you know, they bought it in, I think the 1950s, uh, you know, and so it had this like very fifties, sixties decor and they never updated it, you know, like my bedroom had like the pop, uh, you know, the big bright color flowers, like neon green, neon pink, neon yellow. And then like the, um,
00:42:14
Speaker
the den room was like orange and brown and you know, the kitchen was like that acid yellow that's like almost green. It's like that weird yellow and it's like really vivid. And you know, like the tile on the floor was like yellow and brown. And so, you know, a huge part of my
00:42:36
Speaker
nostalgic love of the 70s, 60s era comes from that experience. It's in my DNA. It literally gives me relief as a human existing when I see vintage things. If that helps explain my obsession and love of that stuff,
00:43:02
Speaker
Um, and in terms of movies, uh, my top three movies, um, you know, they're from a couple of different eras, you know, seventies, uh, eighties. Um, but, uh, the devils by Ken Russell. Um, he is just one of the most brilliant filmmakers that ever lived. Um, possession. Um, I cannot, I can't say it's a Polish director and I'm going to butcher his name. So I'm not going to try. Um,
00:43:32
Speaker
And then Maniac, you know, William Lustig and starring Joe Spinel. And, you know, I love so many different movies. I could rattle off, you know, movies after movies. Agfa is an incredible resource if you want to get into like, you know, Doris Wishman and they just released all this absolutely incredible stuff. But yeah, I just love
00:44:02
Speaker
I love a vintage aesthetic. Thank you. I saw I remember one time I sort of ban Electric Wizard. I love Electric Wizard. I I I as one of the greatest shows ever. I've ever seen the screen in the back. Yeah. Yeah. And I had the screen and I wasn't you know, I was so drawn and it was so
Electric Wizard Concert Experience
00:44:29
Speaker
so subversive like of an aesthetic like it the whole thing was just just raid at you and of course the sounds of electric wizard i was i was completely blown away as a matter of fact i'm gonna look for some of my old video from that it was one of the most i've seen him once and it was one of the most amazing things but i never
00:44:49
Speaker
Of course, you see video right around art and stuff like that. You see video installations and this and that. But there was something about how it's like so central in its impact on the overall aesthetic. It's like I saw Electric Wizard now. So yeah. Yeah, I saw them. Gosh, when was it? It was like maybe 2017. I've seen about right. I think I've seen them twice. I've definitely definitely saw them about
00:45:17
Speaker
2017 ish. It's hard for me my memory as I age and you know, I I eat a lot of edibles, you know, all the all the like trauma and aging and weed and like my there's a lot of impact. There's a lot of impact. Yes.
00:45:38
Speaker
Um, so, uh, I can't remember like the years I went to see shows anymore, but whatever, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. And the, and the video footage of the show, like the satanic rituals and I love it so much. It was, it was wild. It just felt wild. And I didn't know how to like. Handle it all in my head, you know, like it was all just, it was all just felt wild and a bit chaotic and, um, so, so, so impressive. So that was just
00:46:08
Speaker
It's just the whole package.
00:46:11
Speaker
Yes, I get a somehow corral electric wizard onto something rather than nothing.
Philosophical Insights on Creativity
00:46:17
Speaker
Maybe that's maybe that's our next scheme. So I wanted to thank you so much, Corinne, just having, you know, just having a fun and great conversation about some stuff that, you know, to really dig in about and have fun about and Seagal.
00:46:40
Speaker
And, uh, you know, as an, as a nun in VHS tapes. Um, yeah, I thank you for having me on here. It's my pleasure. It's such a delightful conversation.
00:46:53
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's good that it's good to have fun. And and you know, a lot of the art stuff and I'll put, you know, a bunch of this in the show notes. You know, if you if, you know, things feel kind of strange lately, at least for me, sometimes it's good to just kind of grab that grab that weird electricity and laugh at it or just kind of go for the ride for a bit to let some of that stuff out. Right. Absolutely. I'm I try to get into a flow state instead of
00:47:22
Speaker
I mean, I have put up so much resistance to stuff over the course of my life. I'm at that point where I had this realization the other day, I was like, I just need to make a lot more room for things to go wrong. Like, just make the space for it, you know, so that I'm not so, you know,
00:47:43
Speaker
Upset when it goes wrong cuz it's gonna go wrong. I think you dropped into a big idea not to be missed there no express that way because I think we try to do it and I think and live in in a whatever pace that we are there's no space right like this this can't go wrong in my head because this is connected to that thing and I think what you like is
00:48:06
Speaker
Yo, it's going to get it's going to get fucked up a bit. So exactly. Let it a little bit or throw some room in there because it's going to happen. Exactly. One hundred percent.
00:48:17
Speaker
All right, we've unlocked the Key to Life philosophy. Thank you, Corinne Halbert. We didn't know, listeners, that we would get to this point, but we have, but we have. I would expect more zines, videotape-type episodes coming up soon. And I just wanted to thank you again, Corinne. Great pleasure to meet you. Thank you. Such a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much.
00:48:52
Speaker
This is something rather than nothing.