Machine Dazzle

Beloved downtown bon vivant and all-around creative provocateur Machine Dazzle has been dazzling stages via costumes, sets, and performances since he arrived in New York in 1994. He designs intricate, unconventional wearable art pieces and bespoke installations. As a stage designer, Machine has collaborated with Julie Atlas Muz, Big Art Group, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, Taylor Mac, Basil Twist, Godfrey Reggio, Jennifer Miller, The Dazzle Dancers, Big Art Group, Mike Albo, Stanley Love, Soomi Kim, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Opera Philadelphia, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, the Curran Theatre, and Spiegelworld. He has also created bespoke looks for fashion icons, including designer Diane von Furstenberg and model Cara Delevingne, for the 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala.

Recent collaborations include “Bassline Fabulous” with the Catalyst Quartet (Metropolitan Museum of Art); “Treasure,” a rock ‘n’ roll cabaret of original songs and accompanying fashion show; and the historic premiere of the never-before-seen Rameau comedic opéra-ballet, “Io” (Opera Lafayette). Dazzle was a co-recipient of the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design, the winner of a 2017 Henry Hewes Design Award, and a 2022 United States Artists Fellow. He delivered a TED Talk at TED Vancouver in 2023. Machine Dazzle has had solo exhibitions at NYC’s Museum of Arts and Design (“Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle”) and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre (“Machine Dazzle: Art and Intention”).