Machine Dazzle (born 1972) is an American costume designer, set designer, performance artist and drag queen known for his excessive and fantastical camp,

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

and

maximalist In the arts, maximalism, a reaction against minimalism, is an aesthetic of excess. The philosophy can be summarized as "more is more", contrasting with the minimalist motto "less is more". Literature The term ''maximalism'' is sometimes associat ...

approach.

Early life

Machine Dazzle was born Matthew Flower, in 1972 in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. The middle child of three sons, Matthew was mostly raised by his mother Deborah, while his father James was away working as an engineer on oil tankers. The family moved to Houston, Texas and then eventually to Idaho Falls, where Matthew felt alienated amongst the predominantly Mormon community. “I was always the tallest and the gayest” Machine Dazzle told

Hilton Als Hilton Als (born 1960) is an American writer and theater critic. He is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University and a staff writer and theater critic for ''The New Yor ...

when speaking about this period of his life for a piece in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

. Machine cites seeing the 1980

Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British-Australian singer, actress and activist. She was a four-time Grammy Award winner whose music career included 15 top-ten singles, including 5 number-one singles on the ...

film

Xanadu Xanadu may refer to: * Shangdu, the ancient summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire in China * a metaphor for opulence or an idyllic place, based upon Coleridge's description of Shangdu in his poem ''Kubla Khan'' Other places * Xanadu (Titan), ...

at the age of 8 as a defining moment that helped shape his view of himself. At the age of 19, he came out as gay to his conservative parents. Machine Dazzle attended and graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, earning a degree in art. In 1994 he moved to New York City and joined

the Dazzle Dancers The Dazzle Dancers are a performance group founded in 1996 in New York City's Tompkins Square Park during Wignot (the first year that Wigstock didn't happen in the park) by artist Mike Albo (aka Dazzle Dazzle) and Grover Guinta (aka Vinnie Dazzle) ...

. Machine Dazzle spent this time working a myriad of day jobs, including a position as a jewelry designer and at the non-profit cultural center Exit Art, to support his growing fascination with designing extravagant costumes to wear at night in New York City's clubs such as

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

and

Jackie 60 Jackie 60 (1990–1999) was a famous weekly party held every Tuesday in New York's Meatpacking District. Founded by DJ Johnny Dynell, writer Chi Chi Valenti, fashion designer Kitty Boots and dancer/choreographer Richard Move, who were later (c. 19 ...

. The origin of the name Machine Dazzle came from dancing in costume at one such club as a Dazzle Dancer. A friend referred to him as a dancing machine, which quickly morphed into Machine Dazzle. As Machine's costumes began to catch the attention of other club kids and eventually he began taking commissions from drag queens and dancers. Julie Atlas Muz asked Machine to design a full show in 2004. In 2008, Machine Dazzle designed the sets and costumes for ''Lustre, a Midwinter Trans-Fest'', starring Justin Vivian Bond. In 2009, he designed

Taylor Mac Taylor Mac Bowyer (born August 24, 1973) is an American actor, playwright, performance artist, director, producer, and singer-songwriter active mainly in New York City. In 2017, Mac was the recipient of a "Genius Grant" from the John D. and Cath ...

's five hour long ''

The Lily's Revenge ''The Lily's Revenge: A Flowergory Manifold'' is a five act play. The book, lyrics, and conception were by Taylor Mac.Mac, Taylor. The Lily's Revenge. New York: Playscripts, 2009. Print. The music was written by Rachelle Garniez. ''The Lily's Reven ...

''. Mac and Machine Dazzle would go on to collaborate extensively throughout their careers.

Career

Machine is known for utilizing found objects into his costume work. Sourcing items like ping pong balls, slinkies, soup cans, rubber hotdogs and more, to deepen the work's narrative intent. Machine was a co-recipient the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design and the winner of a 2017 Henry Hewes Design Award. In 2016, Taylor Mac's ''

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

'', which Machine Dazzle heavily collaborated on, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. In 2022, the

Museum of Art and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the mus ...

in New York opened first solo exhibition of Machine's work, ‘’Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle’’. The show occupied two full floors of the museum and positions full costumes, ephemera, material samples, photography, and video to fully contextualize the artists body of work.

Works

Plays

Works costume and/or stage designed by Machine Dazzle:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dazzle, Machine 1972 births Living people American costume designers American drag queens LGBT people from Pennsylvania