Run it up the Maypole, and make it fabulous

Marcus Kuiland-Nazario has long been the go-to person for all things fabulous. An artist, curator and independent producer, he is one of the many founding artists of the 18th Street Arts Center and Highways Performance Space.

He is hosting and co-producing the seventh season of MAX10 at the Electric Lodge and guest co-curating the Studio series at REDCAT. The next edition of his 14-year-old live art lab, Pop Tarts, is called “Cinco de Maypole,” a conflation of all things May and pole. He also works as a community liaison for Community Arts Resources.

He talked to Lynell George about his pop-culture consumption:

TELEVISION PICKS: I can’t seem to get enough of “I Love Lucy.” I lust after Ricky’s clothes and envy Lucy’s cleverness. “The View.” I admit it. I only watch the “Hot Topics” section of the show. “Brothers and Sisters.” It’s that Pasadena fantasy of a white upper-middle-class family I can only hope to marry into, once it’s legal for me to do so. One of my favorites is “Absolutely Fabulous.” I have actually worked for ladies (I’m being generous here) who make Patsy and Edina look like Fred and Ethel.

IN HEAVY ROTATION ON THE iPOD: I’ve been listening a lot to a newish band from Finland called Husky Rescue. They are everything that I wanted from the Charlotte Gainsbourg album that I didn’t get. DJ Spooky’s “Afrique Universelle” is a sonic soup of the African diaspora. Gram Rabbit -- a band from trendy Joshua Tree can only be described as psychedelic desert folk funk! Los Munequitos de Matanzas’ “Rumba Caliente” is music that could only be created by Cubans stuck on an island with percussion instruments!

SOUNDTRACK FOR THE COMMUTE: I don’t drive. I live in Santa Monica, work in Koreatown and spend a lot of time on the Eastside. While on the bus, I’m either listening to my iPod through my Panasonic RP-HTX7 head phones and reading or pretending to be whilst actually eavesdropping on the multilingual madness that is an L.A. bus ride.

BEDSTAND LIBRARY: Jerry Stahl’s “I, Fatty.” Stephen Colbert’s “I Am America” -- the funny margin notes are actually funny! “ M.F.K. Fisher’s collected works. Reading about food late at night instead of eating it is such a healthy alternative.

TOP INTERNET DESTINATIONS: My fave blog right now is www.vaginaldavis.com, home to the musings of Dr. Vaginal Davis, world famous Blacktress, spokesmodel, filmmaker, curator and artiste. You can’t tell what’s fact or fiction with her! That suits me fine. https://english.aljazeera.net/ It’s really interesting to read news about the Middle East without the American corporate lies and filters -- but with theirs.

YOUTUBE PICKS: I prefer live art to documentation, but I do visit Xtube from time to time. Human sexuality is fascinating.

CULTURAL ADDICTION:

I really enjoy going to Bergamot Station . . . you can get up to speed with the best and worst trends that the art world has to offer. During the summer I try not to miss the Grand Performances. For the best live art REDCAT is always my destination and they have a bar in their lobby.