Sean Christensen is not as "Beefy" as Suzette the intern had pictured

Below is a blog post for The Portland Mercury Blog....... Meta? Its loosely an interview and definitely a beautiful & creative Ad for Amy & I's Split show "Serious Mysterious". I feel very good about this format of illustrated conversation & an event.

Amy Kuttab, Sean Christensen and I All Have Different Opinions on Amelie

Posted by Suzette "the Intern" Smith on Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 1:58 PM

• Suzette Smith
• Sean Christensen not as "beefy" as pictured.

The Pony Club gallery is filled with ethereal acid house. Amy Kuttab is sitting, floor-haloed in hammers and nails like the patron saint of carpentry (that's Joseph, for those of you that didn't attend Catholic primary). Sean Christensen is trying to decide whether to label a painting "The Big One," or "I Don't Want to Label the Big One."

"Oh, I made this two-hour mixtape for us to hang the show to," Sean Christensen smiles. I snap-label him as the sort of man that makes mixtapes for specific events.

This can be held in comparison with my friend's mother, who always makes tapes labeled, "Cool ___ Vibe." Her reasoning is we could have a "Cool Chill Vibe," a "Cool River Vibe," or a "Cool Scraping Off Wallpaper Vibe" over and over. After today, as far as Sean Christensen is concerned, this mixtape is going to Carousel. (How many Logan's Run references can I make before my internship ends?)

"People love 808 drum machines," I say, trying, as always, to turn the conversation to hiphop. "I remember I thought 808 was an area code for some fancy neighborhood, but it turns out Kelis just loves her drum machine."

"There are a lot of bands with 808 in their name, but I think this was the first one," Christensen educates. Later Christensen and I get into a disagreement about the film Amelie. Amy Kuttab and I valiantly rally around Amelie's honor and I agree to watch Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series. Both Amy Kuttab and Sean Christensen present themselves as people who really know their stuff, but want to tell you about the things they love sweetly. I am not bullied into Truffaut.

With their new show, Serious Mysterious, Kuttab and Christensen open the pages of their very own storybook and present spirits not easily referenced.

"You can't look at it and say, 'That's a unicorn.' Or even, 'That's a crazy-looking unicorn.' Your fantastic creatures don't really have a point of reference," I observe.

"We had the idea and I sort of stuck to it this time," Sean says about his paintings of what may be persons made of black lava or river water or night camo.

Except for the naked women—naked women are something we can reference.

"Oh, good, it looks like they're hugging," I say of Amy Kuttab's painting arrangement.

"Cool, I want them to be hugging," she smiles.

Serious Mysterious will be hanging at Pony Club until August 27, but you should go to the opening tonight, August 4, 6-10 pm. Sounds like it's going to have good music too. Manny Lennox of Atole will be performing solo as Braincrush at 7:30 pm, and Sara Dyberg of Pikara unlocks her fiddle loops and musical hypnosis at 8:00 pm. Pony Club is a collective gallery in the Everett Station Lofts, 652 NW Everett, #105.