Playboy article:

In Theory:

To quote the first words that greet you at the SEEMEN website: "A collaborative of some 40-odd art dropouts and extreme technology inventors who enjoy exploring their taste for the dark side of applied engineering in robot/kinetic art." Captain of the SEEMEN is Kal Spelletich, who's combined a mechanical background (he grew up working for his dad's construction company) with an arts education (he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin's MFA Interdisciplinary Art program). Spelletich founded SEEMEN in Austin -- where, incidentally, he played the Video Backpacker in the movie Slacker -- in 1987. His early work relied on machines fighting one another, but since then, Spelletich's vision has expanded considerably. "What's different between one of my machines and a carny ride is I layer it with metaphors and symbolism," he explains. "It's about life and death,
survival and struggle, and my personal experiences that I layer onto each piece. I'm not at war with the world. I have something to share with the world. It's actually very positive."

In Practice:

Now based in San Francisco's waterfront industrial district, where he scours junkyards and dumpsters for industrial items, Spelletich, like Survival Research Laboratories (with whom he's collaborated), isn't exactly a favorite among city officials. So he finds empty warehouses and other out-of-the-way haunts to stage events he calls "The Art of the Ephemeral Spectacle." In true showbiz style, Spelletich shouts into a mike for onlookers to step right up and give his creations a try. "There's nothing virtual about my work," he explains. "It's all about running the machine yourself or climbing inside it or on top of it and then getting this intense experience. And people need and want that in life."

Spelletich's "big hit" these days is the Fire Shower, a spinning cage of flames that one lucky person gets to climb inside. "It's the lawsuit machine from hell," he jokes. More on the robot side are the Kissyboys, which are two steel skeletons that two audience members control as they please. "They're kind of like Rock'em Sock'em Robots," Spelletich explains, "only you can use them really sweetly and lovingly or very aggressively." Other SEEMEN inventions include a three-headed dog, a robotic steel penis and an immense hydraulic-powered arm that can snap a human in half.


Spelletich is taking SEEMEN to Europe for the first time for a show in Holland on December 18, and he's tentatively planning a U.S. tour in 2000. SEEMEN's website contains a group history, video footage, Spelletich's biography and event dates. Kal Spelletich on Icarus: "Icarus is a pair of wings with a 20-foot span. We wrap them with fabric, douse the fabric with rubbing alcohol, suspend the wings from the ceiling with a block and tackle so they can be raised and lowered by an audience member, and then hit them with a flamethrower. The fabric catches air as they flap down, causing them to jump all around. It is quite epic."


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