Tone Glow & Employees Only: "Grin and Bear It"
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◔◟◔$15 per person
0/52 spots left
Doors 6:30pm / Show 7pm
***LIMITED TIX WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR***
**When buying tickets, please put "DARK CLOWN" in the comments on Paypal/Venmo. Tickets will also be available at the door if tickets don't sell out here. Only one ticket is needed for the whole event.**
Tone Glow and Employees Only are excited to present “Grin and Bear It: Cinema of the Dark Clown,” a multimedia event centered on the figure of the dark clown in experimental moving image. The festivities will take place on Friday, May 16th at 7PM at Elastic Arts and will be broken into three programs: 1) an analog film showcase of iconic works from Jack Smith and Luther Price, 2) videos highlighting the dark comedy of Hester Scheurwater, Ximena Cuevas, Anne McGuire, and Paul & Marlene Kos, and 3) a series of lyrical 16mm films from Jean Sousa, Donna Cameron, and Fred Worden. The evening will also include two live clowning and puppetry performances from local artist Justin D’Acci. Throughout the event, the clown is found in conceptual, queer, and feminine forms, in criminality and pranksterism, in metaphorical explorations of the circus’ beauties and sorrows.
“Grin and Bear It” will remind us that the dark clown is up for grabs as a multivalent cipher for contemporary alienation, one which sublimates our collective desires for revolution. He is a mythically charged trickster forced to wear a smile while wiping pie off his face. Despite his enduring status as the contemporary avatar of ironic detachment—popularized by the Joker archetype—he is difficult to pin down as a cultural singularity. He’s at once a foil to notions of order and justice, an anarchist driven to the outer reaches of sanity by undying capitalist structures, and a giddy nihilist enlightening us to the many hypocrisies of our cruel world. Ultimately, we keep a distance while admitting to his charms.
FILM PROGRAM 1 (16mm & Super 8mm)
1. Mr. Wonderful (Luther Price, 1988, 10 mins)
2. Song For Rent (Jack Smith, 1969, 4 mins)
3. Hot Air Specialists (Jack Smith, 1980, 7 mins)
4. Clown (Luther Price, 1990-2002, 13 mins)
TRT = 34 mins
CLOWN PERFORMANCE
FILM PROGRAM 2 (Digital)
1. Ensayo de un Crimen (Rehearsal for a Crime) (Ximena Cuevas, 2005, 2 mins)
2. Poster Girl (Hester Scheurwater, 2003, 5 mins)
3. I Am Crazy and You're Not Wrong (Anne McGuire, 1997, 11 mins)
4. Sirens (Paul Kos & Marlene Kos, 1977, 7 mins)
TRT = 25 mins
PUPPET PERFORMANCE
FILM PROGRAM 3 (16mm)
1. The Circus (Jean Sousa, 1977, 6 mins)
2. The Clown (Donna Cameron, 1998, 13 mins)
3. Throbs (Fred Worden, 1972, 7 mins)
TRT = 26 mins
Guest List
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