PERFORMANCE
A Day In One Very Unique Life
Herve Tennessee helps you see bunnies in a whole new light
BY CHRISTOPHER MURRAY
So imagine it’s a sunny day and you’re
going for a nice stroll in Washington
Square or Prospect Park and you
come upon a six-foot-tall white rabbit
in overalls standing at a fold-out table. Next to
the rabbit is a young man with a shiny bald
head and an even shinier smile. He’s got calendars,
magnets and other merch for sale, all of it
bunny-centric and full of an upbeat, live-yourbest
most-positive-life vibe. The strangest and
most powerful thing about it all is its complete
sincerity. It’s sort of entrancing.
Imagine no more. This isn’t some Pooka
dream, like the invisible, six-foot-tall rabbit that
captivated Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 movie
“Harvey.” Nope. This is Brooklyn artist and entrepreneur
Herve Tennessee and his project “A
Day In My Life With Bunnies.” A Boston native,
Tennessee is smart and sweet, but make no
mistake: his bunnies take no prisoners.
Although his TennCo Creatives brand also
offers photography, event production (including
bunny tea parties), custom design, and the
TennesseeCurtis Dance Company, the bunnies
take center stage as both product ambassadors
and avatars of his brand of optimism and his
embrace of diversity.
Raised in a religious home, Tennessee has
created an identity and a world of his own and
wants to share it with everyone. He refuses to
be defi ned, declining to discuss his age or racial
or ethic identity since he fi nds these concepts
limiting. Tennessee doesn’t even like to defi ne
himself as gay or queer. He is who he is. He suggests
you just get to know him as himself.
To me, Tennessee is a post-queer outsider
artist, not unlike some hothouse exotic bloom
that has its own unique look and fragrance.
But that’s my old-school way of trying to fi nd a
convenient box to contain who he is and what
he does, so delete the previous sentence in your
head, please. Tennessee’s set-up in parks and
other public venues is his way of hawking his
stuff, but can also be appreciated — again, my
terminology — as pop-up art installations. He
is wary of what are perhaps over-delineated
groups — the art world and the LGBTQ community
included.
According to Tennessee’s webpage, adayinmylifewithbunnies.
com , his whole bunny world
tells the tale of “this boy who through his creative
imagination escapes his human reality
by living a different spectrum of life through a
comic book that he found in his schoolyard. His
new obsession with bunnies has helped him to
cope with the hardships of human reality.”
In a recent interview, he offered some uniquely
THE TENNCO PHOTOGRAPHY
Artist Herve Tennessee is currently working on making “A Day In
My Life With Bunnies,” a comic book series.
Tennessee responses to my curiosity about
his work and philosophy of life.
CHRISTOPEHR MURRAY: Where did your
love for bunnies come from?
HERVE TENNESSEE: I don’t love bunnies. I
don’t dislike them, either. I chose bunnies because
it’s a cute, meek animal. It’s something
that I just chose for no reason. Could have been
a chicken, a fox, or an ogre.
MURRAY: How did “A Day In My Life With Bunnies”
come into being?
TENNESSEE: Most artists can tell you that
ideas come into their heads after midnight when
they’re not able to sleep. We get creative around
these hours. I had the idea and went with it.
MURRAY: How do you develop your items? Your
illustrations?
TENNESSEE: As a creative person, it doesn’t
take much to come up with concepts. When
things come into my heart and mind, I stay
true to them and make it happen. One of the
reasons I do this is to inspire others to do what
inspires them.
MURRAY: What makes it hard trying to build
an artistic business?
TENNESSEE: Starting at the age of 12, I’ve
learned to never use the words hard or try. Nothing
is hard, though things may be challenging.
I can never try, I can only do what I seek out to
do. It’s all perception. Challenges may include
raising money to create more art and fi nding
the spaces to display that art for viewing.
MURRAY: You’re really big on kindness and
self-esteem. Why are those things so important
to you?
TENNESSEE: Self-esteem, courage, strength,
confi dence are all important because without
one the others cease to exist. We all seek out
acceptance and kindness; without it we destroy
each other. With all the world’s turmoil, kindness
has been the thread that has held humanity
together.
MURRAY: Do you identify as queer or gay?
TENNESSEE: I do my best not to put myself or
anyone in a box. Actually do not identify as to
my sexuality, race, career, social status, or Zodiac.
I identify by my character and how I treat
others.
MURRAY: Do you fi nd Brooklyn to be a good
and receptive place for an artist to live?
TENNESSEE: Yes. Very much. Brooklyn is my
favorite borough. Though I would love to live on
the Lower East Side in Manhattan. And other
places for the arts.
MURRAY: What are the diffi culties in being an
artist of color? Is it harder still being a queer
artist of color?
TENNESSEE: The only diffi cult thing is answering
this question. LOL. Since I do not identify
by my skin color or by my sexuality, I mold
into society very easily. I do not recognize any
diffi culties. Again, challenges maybe, which
help me grow. Regardless of people sometimes
making my life diffi cult, I live in the present. I do
not question the why of this, or say, “Why me?”
I smile, give gratitude, and laugh in the face of
diffi culties. Nothing tangible in this world can
shake my spirit.
MURRAY: If anything could happen in the next
year for you, what would be wonderful?
TENNESSEE: My wonderful supportive friends
have convinced me to show my art to the world.
I have no attachment to any outcomes. Since I
have a wonderful message to tell the world, if
they welcome it, then so be it. It would be wonderful
that I continue to be: Love. Peace. Zen.
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