Video Show at Le Petit Versailles in New York City!
riffRAG presents an evening of queer music videos
at LE PETIT VERSAILLES
346 East Houston Street (between Avenues B and C)
Saturday September 17, 2005
FREE ADMISSION
7:00pm Reception
8:00pm Screening
Bro, the Boss said it best when he droned, "57 channels and nothing
on." Even the new all gay, all the time networks Logo and Here cannot
satisfy me. Because when I crave something other than yet another
documentary about lesbian grandmothers and gay male choruses,
something more light and whimsical, well, where can I turn to? Not to
MTV, where my desire for masculine bodies can only be quenched by
bloated frat boys and the T&A belongs to decidedly straight plastic
dolls. Nah, I don't want any of that. Instead, I crave Lucas
Michael's subversive camp in LM2, the sweet punk rock crush of
Ji-Sung Kim's How Fluttering, and the sexy interaction between a
young artfag and his Life Drawing mentor in Erica Chough's School Boy
Art.
riffRAG presents an evening of queer music videos. Although some of
these works are not strictly classified as “music video," music and
sound play crucial parts in their narrative, underlining and
enhancing their meaning. They don't illustrate; they illuminate.
Films/videos to be screened (Running time: approx. 60 minutes):
If You Want It (Giles O'Dell, 6 min., video, 2003)
An animated music video for a Portland-based queer group that
channels Dr. Seuss and births a new kind of nastiness. (Music by
Scream Club)
LM2 (Lucas Michael, 4 min., video, 2003)
LM2 is a "drag upon drag" performance of empowerment where the drag
queen becomes the voice (the "real"), and Liza Minelli becomes my
impersonator, being forced to lipsynch to my voice. The song‘s
meaning, an anthem of survival and optimism in the face of
life's/love's obstacles, is thus usurped by this reversal of roles.
(LM) (Music by Lucas Michael)
School Boy Art (Erica Cho, 12 min., Super 8, 2004)
Franz's dream is to attend a real art school. He draws religiously
and packs his sketchbook with anatomy studies in preparation for
Portfolio Day. Will the inscrutable Professor pass or fail him? This
tape highlights a queer female actor's performance as an elder male
professor teaching a young queer boy how to draw as a stage for the
student's first sexual experience. (EC) (Music by D'Argento)
Clay (A Would Be Ghost Town) (Sara Mithra, 7:30 min., animation,
2005)
To temper the grief of a lost parent, young Emma cultivates a garden
in 1880 New Mexico. She searches her landscape for Pueblo artifacts
amidst mining development. Might her companion, Corrine, unburden her
sorrow? This tape examines the loss suffered by oppressed groups when
confronted with the alternating drive to preserve endangered culture
(by the scientist) or to ransack the terrain (by the white settler).
The disappearing frontier ensures the need for (indigenous or) queer
historical reclamation in an atmosphere of grief. (SM) (Music by
Mirah)
Dumpling House (Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and James Leary, 8 min., 2005)
New York boys rap about the wonders of Chinatown's house of
dumplings. (Music by Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and James Leary)
How Fluttering (Ji-Sung Kim, 4 min., Super 8, 2003)
Crushing out and on the run to a punky soundtrack in a Super-8 and
animated tale. Yes, love can still be fun. (Music by Thee
Headcoatees)
Agent X: Report (Mishann Lau, 5:30 min., video, 2002)
Trapped in a world of secret agents and operatives, survival depends
on success, and success is a finicky lover. Agent X: Report is a
glimpse into a world of neo-codewords and disguises as thick as
sunglasses at night. Shot on mini DV with only available lighting,
Agent X: Report is a send up of the traditional spy caper meets 80's
music video with a dash of Hong Kong spice. (Music by navel4eve)
Maybe Never (But I'm Counting the Days) (Nguyen Tan Hoang, 15 min.,
video, 1996)
"‘Maybe Never' restages both a multitude of narratives about the loss
of innocence and the changing nature of sexual fantasy and activity
in the age of AIDS….While the question of Asian American identity is
never specifically addressed, Nguyen's casting of Asian Americans as
the objects of desire, the creators of fantasy and the participants
in erotic exchanges with one another produces a distinctive aesthetic
which firmly incorporates Asian American bodies, perspectives and
imaginations within a contemporary sexual landscape of risk, desire,
regret and creativity." –Eve Oishi, "Bad Asians: New Film and Video
by Queer Asian American Artists," Countervisions: Asian American Film
Criticism.
at LE PETIT VERSAILLES
346 East Houston Street (between Avenues B and C)
Saturday September 17, 2005
FREE ADMISSION
7:00pm Reception
8:00pm Screening
Bro, the Boss said it best when he droned, "57 channels and nothing
on." Even the new all gay, all the time networks Logo and Here cannot
satisfy me. Because when I crave something other than yet another
documentary about lesbian grandmothers and gay male choruses,
something more light and whimsical, well, where can I turn to? Not to
MTV, where my desire for masculine bodies can only be quenched by
bloated frat boys and the T&A belongs to decidedly straight plastic
dolls. Nah, I don't want any of that. Instead, I crave Lucas
Michael's subversive camp in LM2, the sweet punk rock crush of
Ji-Sung Kim's How Fluttering, and the sexy interaction between a
young artfag and his Life Drawing mentor in Erica Chough's School Boy
Art.
riffRAG presents an evening of queer music videos. Although some of
these works are not strictly classified as “music video," music and
sound play crucial parts in their narrative, underlining and
enhancing their meaning. They don't illustrate; they illuminate.
Films/videos to be screened (Running time: approx. 60 minutes):
If You Want It (Giles O'Dell, 6 min., video, 2003)
An animated music video for a Portland-based queer group that
channels Dr. Seuss and births a new kind of nastiness. (Music by
Scream Club)
LM2 (Lucas Michael, 4 min., video, 2003)
LM2 is a "drag upon drag" performance of empowerment where the drag
queen becomes the voice (the "real"), and Liza Minelli becomes my
impersonator, being forced to lipsynch to my voice. The song‘s
meaning, an anthem of survival and optimism in the face of
life's/love's obstacles, is thus usurped by this reversal of roles.
(LM) (Music by Lucas Michael)
School Boy Art (Erica Cho, 12 min., Super 8, 2004)
Franz's dream is to attend a real art school. He draws religiously
and packs his sketchbook with anatomy studies in preparation for
Portfolio Day. Will the inscrutable Professor pass or fail him? This
tape highlights a queer female actor's performance as an elder male
professor teaching a young queer boy how to draw as a stage for the
student's first sexual experience. (EC) (Music by D'Argento)
Clay (A Would Be Ghost Town) (Sara Mithra, 7:30 min., animation,
2005)
To temper the grief of a lost parent, young Emma cultivates a garden
in 1880 New Mexico. She searches her landscape for Pueblo artifacts
amidst mining development. Might her companion, Corrine, unburden her
sorrow? This tape examines the loss suffered by oppressed groups when
confronted with the alternating drive to preserve endangered culture
(by the scientist) or to ransack the terrain (by the white settler).
The disappearing frontier ensures the need for (indigenous or) queer
historical reclamation in an atmosphere of grief. (SM) (Music by
Mirah)
Dumpling House (Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and James Leary, 8 min., 2005)
New York boys rap about the wonders of Chinatown's house of
dumplings. (Music by Matthew Lutz-Kinoy and James Leary)
How Fluttering (Ji-Sung Kim, 4 min., Super 8, 2003)
Crushing out and on the run to a punky soundtrack in a Super-8 and
animated tale. Yes, love can still be fun. (Music by Thee
Headcoatees)
Agent X: Report (Mishann Lau, 5:30 min., video, 2002)
Trapped in a world of secret agents and operatives, survival depends
on success, and success is a finicky lover. Agent X: Report is a
glimpse into a world of neo-codewords and disguises as thick as
sunglasses at night. Shot on mini DV with only available lighting,
Agent X: Report is a send up of the traditional spy caper meets 80's
music video with a dash of Hong Kong spice. (Music by navel4eve)
Maybe Never (But I'm Counting the Days) (Nguyen Tan Hoang, 15 min.,
video, 1996)
"‘Maybe Never' restages both a multitude of narratives about the loss
of innocence and the changing nature of sexual fantasy and activity
in the age of AIDS….While the question of Asian American identity is
never specifically addressed, Nguyen's casting of Asian Americans as
the objects of desire, the creators of fantasy and the participants
in erotic exchanges with one another produces a distinctive aesthetic
which firmly incorporates Asian American bodies, perspectives and
imaginations within a contemporary sexual landscape of risk, desire,
regret and creativity." –Eve Oishi, "Bad Asians: New Film and Video
by Queer Asian American Artists," Countervisions: Asian American Film
Criticism.
