•Proantiego-USA•

Theo Broma • Peter and Randall Pants • Pora Hemplo • Michelle Slenning • Chuck Jones

Proantiego-USA is an artist group who work nationwide but who are concentrated in Chicago, Illinois. The members started to meet together informally as a critique group in Summer of 1997 and made their first work in early 1999. Here are quotes from a recent interview:

Pora Hemplo: "Most of our early pieces were such horrible terrible crap. After that, it was just regular crap for a while. Usually, after we finish each piece we know it's really really bad, but we're so happy it's done that we can't contain our joy. While that lasts, it's quite a high, but it's short. Then we tear it apart. Or I do."
Chuck Jones: "We're huge fans of Ha Ha. Often we say, 'What would Ha Ha do?" Then we crack up in a kind of a sad way, because none of us have the slightest idea what Ha Ha would do."
Michelle Slenning: "There was a point where I had to temporarily leave the group because Chuck and I couldn't stop arguing about what letters we were going to capitalize in the group's name. At one point, everyone had a fairly strong opinion, but after 6 days of unending and mounting fury, the two of us were the only ones who couldn't let it drop. In the end, I won, but it was a messy win. Chuck conceeded and We have the big 'P' and the big 'USA,' but I had become so unholy that I had to take a 'leave of absence' for about 2 months."

Incomplete Archive of Work