It might be hard to remember now, but not too long ago, it felt like the world was ending.
We were locked inside our homes, working remotely if we were lucky, or putting our lives at risk if we weren’t. Even the most technologically challenged among us suddenly learned how to use Zoom and spent eight, nine or more hours online attending classes, meetings, funerals, weddings and happy hours. Some of us drowned our fears, boredom and uncertainty in drink and others in Netflix, as one day morphed into the next without any clear boundary.
Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert, a Richmond artist, dealt with the uncertainty of the pandemic by making art, using the debris of everyday life — pizza boxes, Covid testing kits, lightbulbs, Amazon shipping boxes — as materials. He sliced, cut, painted and glued, and suddenly, out of garbage, a garden grew.
The pieces that initially bloomed in his home studio can now be seen in a new show at the Richmond Art Center, which opened Jan. 22 and runs through March 22.
A garden with a message about consumerism
Stepping in can feel like falling into a kaleidoscope or perhaps a scene in Alice in Wonderland. Flowers made out of cardboard hang from the ceiling and mushroom sprout out of corners, dripping with bright color and fecund potential. It’s a tropical garden, to be sure, but it’s also Seifert’s commentary on our consumerist culture. Upcycled Garden has been featured in galleries and museums around the country, including Meow Wolf in Las Vegas and the City Museum in St. Louis. Seifert’s show at the Richmond Art Center is his first time showing his work in his hometown.
“When we’re not creating something, we’re buying,” says Seifert, who is known as Atta among friends. “Both shopping and creating fulfill a dopamine fix. And I’d rather be creating.”
Seifert grew up on Long Island, a place he describes as a cultural wasteland, especially for a kid with artistic inclinations. His outlets were a comic-book store, library and music store that allowed him to escape into other worlds. After college, he went to work designing toys and games for toymaker Milton Bradley before moving to the Bay Area in 1998. He taught toy design at the Academy of Art once a week for 20 years and had his first show in 2001.
Seifert has long been influenced by punk culture and groups like the Billboard Liberation Front, a guerrilla arts collective that alters billboards to radically change their message and subvert the mainstream. In 2005, he and his wife, Annie Owens, launched Hi-Fructose, a magazine devoted to featuring contemporary artists around the country.
“A lot of artists are waiting for the perfect studio, the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity,” Seifert said. “But you don’t need to wait for someone to give you permission or opportunity to make art. You can start at any moment.”
Artist founded international ‘Shroom’ game, a mushroom-themed scavenger hunt
Like many creatives, Seifert’s art is guided by what’s happening in his own life. In 2019, as his brother Charlie was dying from Huntington’s disease, Seifert found himself in a deep depression. To cope with his feelings of despair, he began hiding mushroom-themed pictures and sculptures around his Richmond neighborhood, then posting clues on Instagram. He invited other artists to do the same, then share photos on social media and invite followers to search for the art. He called the project Game of Shrooms. Six years later, Game of Shrooms Day (June 14) continues with followers all over the world.
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“Both shopping and creating fulfill a dopamine fix. And I’d rather be creating.“
— Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert
“Making fun of the blue-chip art world is mandatory,” said John Law, a Bay Area artist, self-proclaimed prankster and a cofounder of Burning Man, in a 2022 interview. “It’s amazing what Annie and Atta are doing because it gives a leg up to talented people who might not be good at marketing themselves.”
An appreciation for Richmond’s possibilities
Seifert moved to Richmond in 2009 and today lives in East Richmond Heights, also known as Richmond View, although Seifert calls the latter “a made up place that real estate companies came up with to let people know that we have a wonderful view of the refineries.”
When he’s not traveling for work, Seifert enjoys spending time at Alvarado Park, the Richmond Art Center and eating El Tucan tacos at The Factory Bar. What he appreciates most about Richmond are its possibilities and history and the fact that “it’s a place of scrappy people who do their best.”
With the show, Seifert is excited to share his creations with his neighbors but equally hopeful that his work will inspire visitors to get creative themselves. On Sat., March 1, Seifert will hold a workshop at the Richmond Art Center teaching the public how to make a succulent out of a paper plate.
“When you’re making something, it’s never a waste of time,” he says.
Meet your Neighbor: Artist, publisher, disrupter
WHO: Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert
NEIGHBORHOOD: East Richmond Heights
IN RICHMOND FOR: 16 years
HE SAID: “Richmond View” is a made up place that real estate companies came up with to let people know that we have a wonderful view of the refineries.
THE SHOW: Upcycled Garden exhibit is at Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., through March 22.
MAKE ART: On Sat., March 1, Seifert will hold a workshop at the Richmond Art Center teaching the public how to make a succulent out of a paper plate.
Richmond is home to 40+ distinct neighborhoods, a fact that some residents have told us makes them feel disconnected to the city as a whole. This story is part of an occasional series to help Richmonders get to know their neighbors.
