Los Angeles will soon have a delicious feast, served up by none other than OC friend Ryan Heffington. Over the past few months, Heffington and his crew of creators have been conceptualizing a new type of theatrical performance called KTCHN. A collaborative venture with NY-based visual artist Nolan Hendrickson, KTCHN is a performance installation that will feature the best of LA’s arts and dance scene, one-of-a-kind costumes, and larger-than-life set pieces. Thematically, the show will explore celebrity culture, human loneliness, public versus private image, and new elements of drag and queer culture.
KTCHN continues Heffington’s artistic trajectory towards becoming a culture-defining American artist, as well as an arbiter of all that is strange, beautiful, and must-see in Los Angeles. We sat down with Ryan, Allison Karman (producer), Mindy Le Brock (costume designer), and OCLA's own Adrian Gilliland (art director).
OC Family: How did you all meet Ryan?
Allison Karman: I first saw Ryan (without knowing it was him) performing with his band We Are The World and mentally filed the entire experience away under to investigate further. About a year later, a blind date brought me to one of his dance classes. I fell in love that night—not with my date, but with his very special brand of dirty glitter and devil-may-care fabulousness, as well as with the amazing community of artists and imagineers that come to take part in the circus.
Mindy Le Brock: We met while filming a music video for my old band. It was in a tiny bar called Cuffs—a notorious former leather bar in Silver Lake. He was wearing a sequin leotard and I had on spandex pants while a girl wearing a shrimp head played the piano and a smoke machine blurred our vision. The rest is history.
Adrian Gilliland: Ryan led my first dance class at The Sweat Spot almost four years ago. I had no idea what I was doing when I showed up but I knew that dancing was involved. What followed was an hour and a half of jumping around, sweat, and spandex. I immediately loved what I had found: unapologetic expression, community, and all-out gayness!
KTCHN will take place at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake, which has been used for everything including Charlie Chaplin films and Michael Jackson music videos. Silver Lake is also where Ryan's passion project The Sweat Spot is. What's going on in Silver Lake these days?
Ryan Heffington: First off, I love to say that I'm a Los Angeles artist. It has been this city and its inhabitants that have shaped my art. Many see LA as a superficial, commercial domain, which, in part, it is, but there is also the influence of artists weaving mediums together creating prolific work. Bringing a project like KTCHN to Silver Lake, and LA in general, will, I hope, change the face of performance in the area, bring light to dance culture here, and inspire its inhabitants.
AK: I'm a Silver Lake native—a rare breed—and I've watched this formerly sleepy town become a busy thoroughfare for artists and the people who love them. I know that some consider it to be overrun with hipsters but I find that term and the criticism that comes with it to be meaningless. Artists need community—for support and for inspiration—and the group that has formed here offers all of these things. We work together, go to each other's events, and inspire each other. My hope
KTCHN continues Heffington’s artistic trajectory towards becoming a culture-defining American artist, as well as an arbiter of all that is strange, beautiful, and must-see in Los Angeles. We sat down with Ryan, Allison Karman (producer), Mindy Le Brock (costume designer), and OCLA's own Adrian Gilliland (art director).
OC Family: How did you all meet Ryan?
Allison Karman: I first saw Ryan (without knowing it was him) performing with his band We Are The World and mentally filed the entire experience away under to investigate further. About a year later, a blind date brought me to one of his dance classes. I fell in love that night—not with my date, but with his very special brand of dirty glitter and devil-may-care fabulousness, as well as with the amazing community of artists and imagineers that come to take part in the circus.
Mindy Le Brock: We met while filming a music video for my old band. It was in a tiny bar called Cuffs—a notorious former leather bar in Silver Lake. He was wearing a sequin leotard and I had on spandex pants while a girl wearing a shrimp head played the piano and a smoke machine blurred our vision. The rest is history.
Adrian Gilliland: Ryan led my first dance class at The Sweat Spot almost four years ago. I had no idea what I was doing when I showed up but I knew that dancing was involved. What followed was an hour and a half of jumping around, sweat, and spandex. I immediately loved what I had found: unapologetic expression, community, and all-out gayness!
KTCHN will take place at Mack Sennett Studios in Silver Lake, which has been used for everything including Charlie Chaplin films and Michael Jackson music videos. Silver Lake is also where Ryan's passion project The Sweat Spot is. What's going on in Silver Lake these days?
Ryan Heffington: First off, I love to say that I'm a Los Angeles artist. It has been this city and its inhabitants that have shaped my art. Many see LA as a superficial, commercial domain, which, in part, it is, but there is also the influence of artists weaving mediums together creating prolific work. Bringing a project like KTCHN to Silver Lake, and LA in general, will, I hope, change the face of performance in the area, bring light to dance culture here, and inspire its inhabitants.
AK: I'm a Silver Lake native—a rare breed—and I've watched this formerly sleepy town become a busy thoroughfare for artists and the people who love them. I know that some consider it to be overrun with hipsters but I find that term and the criticism that comes with it to be meaningless. Artists need community—for support and for inspiration—and the group that has formed here offers all of these things. We work together, go to each other's events, and inspire each other. My hope