Putting Gays in Space

Los Angeles-based artist Timothy “Timo” Reese is an artist with many hats. He’s a filmmaker, a digital artist, a dog dad, and now a philanthropist. He has taken his art to social media raising money for #SavePrecint benefitting Precinct in Downtown Los Angeles. While other gay locations have benefitted from outdoor seating or takeout orders, Precinct has remained closed for over a year now with their bar staff all out of work – the point of return is close.

Combining his love of sci-fi and gay nightlife, he has created a series that literally puts Gays in Space. With a signature style that matches his quirkiness, he creates digital figures for all those who donate – all proceeds going directly to the Precinct fund. Southern California residents will recognize some familiar faces as personalities from the LGBTQ community – celebrity and non-celebrity alike – start to pop up.

Where did you get the nickname Timo? 

It honestly was just something my boyfriend started calling me one day – he calls me Timo Bear and I call him Holdy Bear because we are gross and in love. Anyway, I liked it more than the other versions of my name. Like, “Tim” sounds like a beleaguered office worker, “Timothy” is a foppish Victorian villain, and “Timmy” is a character on the Fairly Odd Parents, but “Timo” (pronounced Tee-Moh) was a cute, less gendered variant that I had never considered, and it just felt right. Sort of a “Thanks I’m keeping this” thing. So, thanks Holdy Bear! 

What is the first piece of art or film that you can remember that sparked your interest as a kid? 

I had a book-on-cassette-tape version of Disney’s Cinderella that I listened to so many times it started sounding like distorted nightmare fuel. You know how tapes will do that? Oh god. Am I old?

How did your love of sci-fi first start? 

I think this may have been a byproduct of my “falling out with religion” phase growing up as a Christianly-raised-closeted-gay. Things that presented themselves as science-y became super appealing almost as a form of rebellion, in part because of how anti-science (and anti-gay) my household was at the time. I was raised to think of LIBERAL SCIENCE BRAINWASHING and GOOD CHRISTIAN CONSERVATISM as a binary, and I was learning fast that I would never be not-gay enough to fit into the latter, so I chose the former. I guess leaning hard into sci-fi was my version of Lil NasX making a music video where he gives Satan a lap dance. I will never claim to be that iconic, but let’s just say, I related really hard to the Montero letter.

There is such a large number of gay sci-fi geeks, and we are becoming more vocal!  Do you feel that sci-fi was largely hetero in nature? 

I think tentpole media is largely hetero in nature. And big adventurous sci-fi usually requires a budget, so if the masses are uncomfortable with two men kissing, it’ll stay rare that we see it in science fiction media. It’s kind of the final frontier for queer representation, which is a shame because sci-fi is so much more interesting through a queer lens. I love that queer sci-fi geeks (who have always been here, by the way) are becoming more vocal in nerd spaces because I think it shows that there’s a real audience for this, and that will lead to more compelling stories getting made in the future.

What is your take on the growing representation of LGBTQ characters in sci-fi?  Why do you think that is? 

I love it. It should grow faster, and people should hire me to do it.

Ok, I must know – Star Wars or Star Trek?  Also, why is Star Trek so much better than Star Wars?  LOL  

You don’t want me to answer that.

Okay okay fine. I’m going to upset some people with this but … I love Star Wars and I love the camp of OG 60’s Star Trek (George Takei oiled up and shirtless with a SWORD in SPACE. Come on), but… I am bored out of my mind by Star Trek: The Next Generation. I KNOW. I know. Wrong opinions on the internet. But here’s the thing. Art is subjective. I don’t think I have the capacity to argue that Star Wars is *good* but I love camp and space Muppets. They bring me joy. And at the end of the day, both properties are owned by mega corporations and don’t need me to fight for them. I’m going to plug “I Am Mother,” “Ex Machina,” and the videogame “Observation” because the REAL correct answer to “Star Wars vs. Star Trek” is “Independent art.”

What was the first professional piece of art that you made? 

So fun fact, my first job was in the art department of a small tee shirt printing company, so I’ve been doing “professional art” since I was a teenager, which is very cool. But to answer your question, the first professional piece of art was probably reformatting a logo to a vector file for screen printing, which is a very boring answer. 

What is your creative process when creating a new piece? 

So, with this series (Gays in Space), I’ve been sort of gamifying the collaborative process. I ask each person involved to send in a photo of themselves dancing in “whatever you would wear to a space gay bar” and I’ve found that people who have been starved of club life all year are really excited to show off their cute outfits. It is really fun! And them bringing that energy to the table helps a lot with the art inspiration. 

How did you learn your skills in digital art? 

Practice.

What do you say to those haters who state that digital art is not as legit as hand painted art? 

If you’re gatekeeping what art is “legit,” you have boring opinions. Like, it’s not a new conversation. These are the same people who try to say that rap isn’t music. Of course, it is. But also? Who cares? Why does it matter what counts as “real art?” Everything is real art. Nothing is real art. Art is fake, time is a construct and God is a woman. I, for one, just like making stuff.

What attracts you to digital art over other mediums? 

So, I know I just went off about it but … I don’t know that I am attracted more to digital art, but it’s less messy so I do it more, so I have more practice. I’m better at it, so I do it more.  

Tell me about your Gays in Space campaign – where did you come up with the idea? 

My boyfriend and I were joking about how “when the clubs open up” was starting to sound like some far-off Jetsons future, so I drew the two of us dancing in a futuristic Gay Space club for fun, complete with fishbowl helmets and rocket boots. A friend reached out being like “I WILL PAY YOU FOR ONE OF THESE” and I was like “okay, but what if I made it a thing and we donated everything to #saveprecinct” and then he said yes but, like, in a very gay way and that was the greenlight. 

How long does it take from concept to execution for each drawing? 

Thankfully for this series the concept is user-generated, so it doesn’t usually take too long to figure that part out, but as far as the art goes, I’ve gotten it down to an hour or so per drawing.

You are raising money for Precinct DTLA, what is your relationship with Precinct? 

I have no official affiliation with Precinct other than being a huge fan. It’s the first place I ever tried drag (shout out to Tony Soto and my friend Nick for bullying me into THAT adventure), it’s the place we go when we want to meet up with people and show them around LA. It’s our home base bar, you know? Getting drunk with bears and drag queens upstairs and sobering up via bacon-wrapped street hot dogs once they kick us all out at 2 am is such an iconic staple of my personal queer experience as an intergalactic trash panda, and I’m not ready for a future where that isn’t a part of it.

What do you think the future of LGBTQ nightlife will look like? 

It’ll bounce back somehow, I’m sure. My worry is that some of the more historic queer bars will get wiped out before we’re able to dance in public again. That’s a big reason I’m trying to drum up donations for #saveprecinct. These places are our history, and it will be easier to build a future if we can protect and honor the past. Other than that? No idea. Hopefully, jetpacks are involved.

Your two dogs are named after Muppets…I’m assuming you are a Muppets fan? 

I love anything involving puppets. It’s an underappreciated art form. 

What did you learn about yourself during COVID? 

Oh, man. Everyone’s been getting character arcs this year, huh? I will leave some of the more personal stuff to your imagination, but I will say that I’ve learned that I, like a lot of ex-Christian-gays, carry a lot of generic internalized shame. I judge myself way too hard, constantly, and that has not served me or my relationships in a positive way. I was raised to care a lot about this idea of being a good person, but “good,” like art, is subjective. Good on what metric? To whom? At what? To what end? So, I’m learning to reframe a little bit. I’m going to live my life and try to do things that I value. Things that are helpful to people, that are kind, that are anti-racist, that are empathetic and understanding and creative and interesting, because I value those things. But I am challenging myself to stop acting like how good I am at those things defines the “goodness” of my personhood. I’m just going to move on and try again and keep learning as I go. Also, I’ve been learning to cook more. That’s been really nice.

How did you get through COVID quarantined with your boo?  Any relationship tips? 

Date someone you like spending time with, and if you can help it, don’t put your office in your bedroom. 

If you were given a $100,000 grant for one piece of art, what would you create? 

I’ve got a script for a horror sci-fi feature about gay people and robot dogs if anyone wants to fund that!

If you could be any sci-fi character, who would it be? 

I want to be in one of Taika Waititi’s upcoming Star Wars movies. Ideally as a canonically gay Muppet alien. Who lives and has lines.

What could the LGBTQ community learn from the sci-fi world?  

That there is a future worth pursuing, and it’ll be cooler if queer people are a part of making it.

Check out Timo and Gays in Space on IG: @TimoMakesFilms.