Shaye and Kiki

Shaye and Kiki

"I am the most studied sufferer in all the world!" - Shaye St. John

I'm not sure exactly what's going under the baby doll mask, the white sheet, the prosthetic limbs, the wig, the wheel chair, and the chirpy child's voice- certainly a creature of some sort, limbless and in the grips of some (understandably) faraway fantasy world, where burned child's toys are her best friends and the shocked looks and gasps of passerby as she gets wheeled through the streets of Hollywood are actually lingering gazes of admiration and adoration. Shaye Saint John is a very disabled person, that's for certain, and these video shorts serve as some sort of salve, a way of connected with the outside world. There is no question about the fine line between madness and genius here- it's madness, plain and simple, dizzying in it's detachment to reality, and flashing with the bright colors of early childhood. In fact, the whole affair seems like the twisted vision of a small child, inventing the rules of gravity and standards of beauty and decorum as they go along. This is a series of shorts, destined for a DVD compilation of Shaye's videos due out next year on Indican. They are impossible to describe, except to say that they are very disturbing, as bile-inducing as a Fulci film, and lysergically profane as Jodorowsky, only without a hint of blood, violence, nudity, cursing, or off-color subject matter of any sort. Just a lone, troubled cripple, having a party in their mind where everyone's invited, but no one shows up. For fans of bizarre bouts of self-expression, Kiki and Shaye is a must-see. Just keep in mind, that you'll be trying to shake it off for hours afterwards.

Go even deeper in to the ultra-weird mindscape of Shaye - www.shayesaintjohn.com

- Sleazegrinder