http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,45916,00.html
i am mostly on pg. 2
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,45916-2,00.html The Big Bang Theory of Art 2:00 a.m. Aug. 9, 2001 PDT (page 2) "I'm trying to find my own little genre where there is something special," said Kal Spelletich, a former SRL member who runs the machine fabrication group, Seemen. "Mark does what he does so well. The apocalyptic, Frankenstein, end of the world show is Mark, so I can't enter into that. "He's the grandfather for all of us. I'm going the opposite direction, trying to create a world where the audience interacts and operates the machines themselves." Survival Research Laboratories creates technological performance art with mass destruction and fear at its base. Spelletich's Seemen works for a more audience-friendly, interactive experience. Spelletich now builds Carny-like rides that provide the same type of visceral experience that Pauline talks about giving audiences in SRL shows. The show is still filled with fire and screeching noises, but the audience is in control of the robots. Seemen wants the experience to be firsthand. Volunteers are pulled from the small audiences. Then they strap on the flame thrower or step into the Fire Shower –- which has an eerie resemblance to David Copperfield's Tornado of Fire. Similarities between Spelletich and Copperfield's creations were obvious enough that Seemen sent a cease-and-desist letter to the magician, whose last network special featured the Tornado as its main event. Regardless of the legal wrangling's outcome, Spelletich said Copperfield –- and even Pauline -– can't give the audience the experience he offers. "I make the audience the hero," Spelletich. "Any schlub can do this. A big goal of mine is to remove my ego, and let the audience do this. I ask for volunteers in my show, and 99 percent of the time, the audience is clamoring to get involved. "You can see people get nervous about this, but something inside of them made them step forward."