FEBRUARY 1,2001
entertainment news
For comments, contact Erinn R. Barcomb at 864-4810 or email jayplay@kansan.com www.kansan.com/arts
WITH PASTE AND SUBVERSIVE HUMOR, LOCAL ARTIST TRAVIS MILLARD'S WORK POPS UP IN UNUSUAL PLACES
story by matt merkel-hess — photos by thad allender
BIO SHEET
Name: Travis M. Millard
Age:25
Hometown: Orleans
Favorite artistic
medium: whatever
works.
Words of wisdom:
"Be what you is, not what you ain't. Cuz if you ain't what you is,
then you is what you ain't."
The best thing about my life: people who care about the people around them.
All-time favorite albums/artists: Bob Dylan and The Band.
"The Basement Tapes;" Neil Young.
"After the Gold Rush;" too many more to list.
Advice to tm²
wanna-be's:
"Wanna-be" yourself.
ravis Millard has never been caught doing public art, which law-abiding folks might call graffiti. Maybe it's because he's always got a plan.
Last spring, he was downtown with a bucket of wallpaper paste and copies of his drawings, looking for a suitable side-of-a-building canvas. When things got dicy, he and his friend, Brock Batten, took off in different directions.
And then, in accordance with that night's plan, they met at The Eighth Street Taproom, 801 New Hampshire St.
Confounded by the authorities, Millard took his art inside and pasted his cartoon-like characters in the Taproom bathroom. Millard, who goes by the moniker $tm^2$, has a recognizable style that didn't confuse anyone — especially Taproon manager Jeremy Sidener. The next day Sidener called Millard and asked if the bathroom art was his handiwork.
"I denied it immediately," Millard said. "But then he asked if me if I'd finish it."
Since then, the bathroom has taken on a personality of its own, with people writing comments and Millard responding with his own words and new drawings.
"It's developing into something I never imagined it would. It's this living, breathing thing," he said. "It's just been this happy accident."
Sidener said the art improved what had been a boring bathroom.
But Millard is more than just a bathroom artist. He's done paintings on the back patio of the Replay Lounge, 946 Massachusetts St., and has done work for magazines such as Spin, Detour and Black Book.
"If he's going to be creative about his vandalism, it seemed a perfect opportunity to exploit that," he said. "It's like a gallery in a sense."
For Spin, he did a piece on the bar scene, drawing from his experiences at local bars and coffee shops.
"I watch people at bars all the time and I listen to bar conversations," Millard said. "You become aware of
how ridiculous bar chatter is. It can be a pretty delusional scene."
More information For more information and examples of Millard's artwork, visit www.kansan.com
When he's not out on the town sketching or pasting, Millard works at Artist Workshop, a music and art distributor he
helped start earlier this year. He also sings and plays guitar with the band The Ugly Boyfriend.
Millard has been doing art since an early age. In elementary school he was into punk rock and busting at the seams of the Wrangler jeans his dad sells for a living. Although he rejected the jeans, he's met the cowboy look halfway.
"I was always a skate punk," he said. "But when I developed my own sense of fashion, the only thing I wanted to wear were gaudy, old cowboy shirts."
At the University of Kansas, he's done art for the most recent KJHK 90.7 T-shirts. Recently, he did the art for the station's spring program poster. The poster is in the spirit of artistic 1960s concert posters, said Phil Cauthon. KJKH graduate teaching assistant.
"We chose Travis because, by my limited knowledge of Lawrence artists, he's made the biggest name for himself," Cauthon said. "We're trying to link our poster with the caliber of art that Travis does."
Since graduating from KU three years ago, Millard has been reluctant to settle down on one idea or project. He worked as a designer at an advertising firm for four months and hated it. Since then, he said the mission of his art had been "to subvert the nature of advertising."
His comic strip, "Fudge Factory," pokes fun at everything from boy bands and professional wrestling to relationships. Although the comic had a successful four-month run in an Indiana weekly, The Bloomington Independent, Millard turned down an offer of national syndication and stopped doing the
Travis M.Millard
www.artist-workshop.com
Still, he's drawn back to comic lines and urban art. He sees his public art as a way of covering up graffiti and putting up something more interesting to look at.
Frequent collaborator Brock Batten agreed.
"I think the nature of graffiti is awesome," Batten said. "Graffiti has the power to speak against the powers that be and raise issues the news isn't reporting on."
"It became pretty unfunny to me," he said. "It became a chore. I don't want to be funny on demand and I don't think a comic strip is an appropriate venue for everything I want to say."
comic regularly.
When Millard's work pops up in downtown alleways and on sides of buildings, Batten said it was just another outlet for his creativity and wry humor.
"It's for the good of the community." he said.
Both Batten and Millard spoke about the recent trend of graffiti artists crossing the line into galleries and museums. It's something Millard has already done. This spring, his art will be in a gallery shows in Kansas City, Mo., Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Now he just has to decide what he wants to do and where he wants to go. Whatever direction that is, it will most likely always include a little paste, some playful humor and a lot of creativity.
JAYPLAY inside
Examples of Millard's work exhibit eclectic qualities. "Banditech Won" (above) and "Press Record" (below) each exemplify Millard's unique style. Contribute your ideas.
Oh yeah, and a plan.
"I know that I will be an artist for the rest of my life," Millard said. "My goal is to keep my integrity and maintain the essence of what I aim to be."
Horoscopes ...2B
Crossword ...4B
Music ...2B
— Edited by Joshua Richards
Fine Arts ...3B
Movies ...2B
Classifieds ...5B
I want to bite your neck!
Shadow of the Vampire offers
moviegoers a more classic
version of the traditional tale.
See page 28
Chicago
The six-time Tony Award-
winning show Invades the
Lied Center tomorrow.
See page 38.
See page 3B
Swimsuit mania
Local merchants are gearing up for the swimsuit season.
See page 6B
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