In a two-part exclusive, founding club kid, artist and promoter Michael Tronn tells us why he’d like to travel into the future, and how reanimating evil could help save the world
What Los Angeles venue do you miss that’s gone? “Osko’s,” a.k.a., “The Zoo.” I never made it there, but the film Thank God It’s Friday was shot there, and it looks amazing! What’s the best event that you produced in Los Angeles, and why? Halloween at Avalon was incredible. I transformed the old theater into a haunted house, complete with a castle façade. We also had gruesome acts of dismemberment in the lobby and dozens of chandeliers made of skeleton bones hanging over the dancefloor. What opportunity did Miami miss out on? Developing an industry other than tourism and retail. The worst offense is the missed opportunity to have The Whitney Museum from New York open a Miami branch. What project are you the proudest of? I’d like to think it hasn’t happened yet. However, I’m very proud of my two major solo art shows in Miami. How would you like to be remembered? As a good person who helped heal the world. Will you ever retire? That’s unlikely, but I’ll take long sabbaticals to travel and create art. What’s the last thing that you looked at online? The Studio 54 book by Ian Schrager.
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What’s the best place that you’ve visited, and why? Petra, in Jordan. To have seen firsthand this city from 312 BC, which was carved into a mountain, was awesome and awe-inspiring. It’s an incredible feat of designing and engineering. What did you learn from your parents? Love, tenacity and creativity. What performer do you admire, and why? As cheesy as it is to say, the greatest showman of our time is Madonna.
Obviously, it’s not innovative to cite her, but nobody else has so many facets, and nobody else has done it the same way. Most people don’t see all the hidden meaning—the subconscious—that’s in her art. This is especially true with the Music album, which is laden with numerical, color, and geometrical symbolism, and the video for “What It Feels Like for a Girl,” where every shot contains a visual riddle about spirituality and Kabbalah. What are your best characteristics? Creativity, empathy and spiritual understanding. How do you enjoy spending your time? Creating art and literature, plotting my mission out, meditating in the sun, and swimming in the clear ocean when it’s like bathwater. What celebrity do you have a crush on? Matt Bomer and James Franco.
Who do you admire, and why? Everyone who’s courageous enough to be unique who’s brave enough to think both deeply and critically. Specifically, Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Buddha, Albert Einstein, Helen Keller, Rumi and Carl Sagan. If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be, and why? The worst person in the world—and you can fill in the blank there—and Jesus. I believe that after we leave this body, we’re able to see ourselves in hindsight clearly. If I brought back a malevolent spirt, with everything that’s going on in the world right now, he or she could teach all of the prejudiced, hateful, scared-shitless people how wrong being that way is. And, hopefully, they would listen. As far as Jesus goes, I’d expect that the bigots who think they’re very “Christian” would deny Jesus if He told them to stop acting that way, which is pathetic and tragic.
Where would you go in a time machine, and why? I’d travel to the future—and I’d go as far as I’d have to go—when there’s peace on earth. I’d go there because I want to see what I want the world “to be.” What would your last meal be? As reprehensible as it is to admit it, I love the taste and texture of fois gras. I learned about it as a child, way before I knew how it was made. I feel very bad for the geese, but I can’t say that it’s not delicious. What do you worry about? How I can be a catalyst to help cure the ignorance of mankind. If you were a musical instrument, what would you be, and why? I can’t be just one; I have too many sides. I’d be the flute, the electric guitar, the Theremin, a giant gong, a crystal singing bowl, an organ, and a sitar. Are you more like a sheep or a wolf? I’m a sheep in wolf’s clothing. I’m soft and sweet on the inside, but I have to be strong on the outside to get things done. Who depends on you, and for what? My friends and family. I give them love, support, unconditional loyalty, and I help them make decisions (when they ask for it).
Who are you closest with? My immediate family. What would your autobiography be called? Probably Fuck Shame. Strip Fear. Do you ever put music on when you’re upset? Yes. I listen to lots of downtempo electronica, plus, my go-to’s—Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon, Tracy Chapman’s New Beginnings, Audioslave, Moby, Deva Premal, meditation music and Creed. What’s on your bucket list? To accomplish all of my artistic goals. That way, I’ll leave a legacy that helps transform mass ignorance and fear into mass understanding, wisdom, acceptance, love and enlightenment for every soul in the entire universe. Also, I’d like to publish the children’s book that I’ve been working on, which is about the universe. What’s your greatest regret in life? That I can’t stay younger, longer. But it’s not for vanity. I need more time to accomplish my goal. Can you tell me something that you never told anyone else? Maybe one day. Where can we see you? At michaeltronn.com and michaeltronnfineart.com. And, always, at the Bareback Follies at El Tucan.