One of the founding themes for Fiercely Curious is local art and local artists. Well it doesn't get much more local than The Invisible Dog and Mac Premo. While we were taking photos for one of our Van Lueewen Vinyls posts we got chatting with Peter Treiber (a local artist you'll be seeing more of on Fiercely Curious soon) who works with Mac Premo. We all got terribly excited and next thing you know we're taking photos in Mac's studio space in The Invisible Dog and sitting down for a talk with him about art, skateboards and his upcoming solo theatre performance The Luckiest Arab in Belfast being performed Feb 25 – March 2 at The Invisible Dog.

A Conversation with Mac Premo

Erin: What are you curious about?

Mac: I am curious about how we catalogue moments. how we retain them and how they become stories. I am curious about the physical form that this inquisition takes from the objects we choose to keep and the manner in which we present them.

i am also curious about how one hits a curve ball and how steak is so vastly delicious. Erin:What is the best piece of advice you've been given and by whom?

Mac: growing up my mother instilled in me the responsibility to follow your dream if you are lucky enough to have clear sightline to what your dream is, then it was kind of your responsibility to pursue it.

so, best advice; follow your dream.

don't be a dick. also pretty good advice.

Erin:What is your dream project?

Mac: someday i want to buy a house. old. like 100 year old, semi industrial building. 3 or four stories. i want to start in one corner and make collage environments, site specific installation. some rooms maybe with just a skate ramp. spend years working my way throughout the whole building.



Erin: You wrote and will be performing "The Luckiest Arab in Belfast" starting this February 25th. What made you take the leap from making art into a theatrical performance?

Mac: a few years ago i did a project called the dumpster project, it was a taxonomy of my existence as told through the cataloging of objects collected over my lifetime, displayed as a collage environment inside a thirty yard dumpster. the next show i had was at the the gallery that represents me, pavel zoubok; a more traditional gallery setting. looking at the work up on the walls, it was certainly a show i was pleased with and a gallery i am excited to be a part of but it lacked a direct relationship with the audience that i had experienced in making the dumpster project. so i figured that if a direct relationship with the audience is what i was searching for, i figured i should write and perform a play.

"i cant guarantee that you'll like it. i cant guarantee that it will be good. But I can guarantee that it will not break an hour." - Mac Premo

Erin: We heard that you're building a skate ramp for the performance. Tell us about it and how it's involved in the performance. Will you be doing any tricks?

Mac: at 40 my trick years are behind. at one point i do ride on it a bit, but nothing spectacular. the play is based ons tories from my life. skateboarding played an enormous role in me becoming who i am. i don't really tell a lot of stories about skating; its more emblematic of my foundation.

Thanks to Mac for answering our questions and sharing his space with us. If you're in the hood, be sure to check out Mac's show The Luckiest Arab in Belfast.