The Larsen Salon Series: Machine Dazzle

Machine Dazzle was born Matthew Flower in 1972. The name Machine Dazzle came from dancing in costume at a New York City club as a Dazzle Dancer. A friend referred to him as a dancing machine, which quickly morphed into Machine Dazzle. Machine’s costumes began to catch the attention of other club kids, and he began taking commissions from drag queens and dancers. He has collaborated extensively with Taylor Mac. Machine is known for utilizing found objects into his costume work. Sourcing items like ping pong balls, slinkies, soup cans, rubber hotdogs and more, to deepen the work’s narrative intent. In 2022, the Museum of Art and Design in New York opened the first solo exhibition of Machine’s work, ‘’Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle’’.

The Larsen Salon Series, offered by LongHouse Reserve in honor of its founder Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020), carries on a tradition of conversations, presentations, and lectures by designers, architects, and artists working at the intersection of art, architecture, design, and craft. We offer these salons to engage all of us in important dialogues of meaning in our complex world.