A Fire In My Belly (Film In Progress) (1986-1987) by David Wojnarowicz
Sunday, October 13, 2024, 7:30 pm
In the Shadow of Forward Motion
Films by David Wojnarowicz
Presented in association with CounterPulse and Frameline
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Admission: $15 General / $12 Cinematheque Members
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Infamous for confrontational artworks pitting a socially antagonistic gay identity—angry, stark and howling, more the color of blood, garish neon or abraded flesh than rainbow-flagged—David Wojnarowicz (1954–1992), a stalwart figure in the 1980s East Village art scene, has, for decades, haunted us from the grave with his work—films, artworks, music and memoirs—consistently thorns in the side of an assimilationist agenda. Always on the side the marginalized underdog, Wojnarowicz seethed with animosity toward mainstream culture with his work forming an anguished assertion of life in a brutal psychic landscape of ‘80s America—most notably in response to his government’s non-response to the AIDS pandemic—while also embodying an incredibly moving tenderness and yearning spirituality. Wojnarowicz remains a hero and model American, a man asserting life against all odds. One month late for Wojnarowicz’ September 14 septenary and as an echo to our February 18 screening Queering the Wreckage, Cinematheque partners with P·P·O·W to present four works by Wojnarowicz, including Heroin (a different version than screened February 18); the infamous A Fire in My Belly and the rarely seen ITSOFOMO, a video translation of Wojnarowicz’ 1989 collaborative performance collaboration with musician/composer Ben Neill, “a fierce meditation on history and power” emanating from the AIDS pandemic’s darkest hours. Screening also includes the elegant Unfinished film (sequence in memory of Peter Hujar), a haunting and silent tribute to Wojnarowicz’ friend, lover, mentor and muse. (Steve Polta)
Special Thanks to Isaac Alpert and P·P·O·W.
SCREENING:
Heroin (1981) by David Wojnarowicz; Super-8mm screened as digital video, b&w, silent, 3 minutes
A Fire In My Belly (Film In Progress) (1986-1987) by David Wojnarowicz; Super-8mm screened as digital video, b&w and color, silent, 13 minutes. Exhibition file from Electronic Arts Intermix.
A Fire In My Belly (Excerpt) by David Wojnarowicz; Super-8mm screened as digital video, color, silent, 7 minutes. Exhibition file from Electronic Arts Intermix.
ITSOFOMO [monoband version] (1989) by David Wojnarowicz & Ben Neill; video, color, sound, 23 minutes. Exhibition file courtesy the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P·P·O·W, New York.
Unfinished film (sequence in memory of Peter Hujar) (1987) by David Wojnarowicz; Super-8mm screened as digital video, b&w and color, silent, 13 minutes. Exhibition file courtesy the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P·P·O·W, New York.
Heroin (1981) by David Wojnarowicz
Heroin was David Wojnarowicz’s first Super 8 film (and the only film he ever finished). An apparent cautionary tale about the depravities of addiction, scenes were shot in friends’ lofts and apartments—where figures were seen passed out on floors, stairwells, tables, rooftops and unmade beds. Heroin was a popular social drug in New York in the 1980s and Alphabet City (east of the East Village) was a 24/7 hub for buying it in every “flavor.” Wojnarowicz had several friends who were regular heroin users, and he experimented with the drug himself until the day his mentor Peter Hujar gave him an ultimatum to quit using or end their friendship. Wojnarowicz never used heroin again.
A Fire In My Belly (Film In Progress) (1986-1987) & A Fire In My Belly (Excerpt) by David Wojnarowicz
A Fire in My Belly is a visceral meditation on cultural and individual identity, spirituality and belief systems. On a trip to Mexico City with Tommy Turner to scout Day of the Dead imagery, Wojnarowicz shot 25 rolls of super-8 film, documenting scenes that embodied the violence of city life. A central image is that of a child exploited as a fire-breathing street performer, which resonates in the title of the film and Wojnarowicz’s own experience hustling on the streets at a young age. He later staged scenes in his New York City apartment to combine with this footage, collecting dreamlike images to illustrate thematic sections he planned for the film’s structure, outlined in a cutting script. Among these images is a dancing, gun-wielding marionette, coins dropping into a plate of blood, vibrantly colored loteria cards and the now iconic self-portrait of the artist with his lips sewn shut.
ITSOFOMO [monoband version] (1989) by David Wojnarowicz & Ben Neill
ITSOFOMO (In the Shadow of Forward Motion) is a multimedia performance collaboration created by artist David Wojnarowicz and composer/musician Ben Neill in 1989. Integrating music, text, and video in a multi-dimensional format, the work embodies the act of acceleration and its sensory manifestations. It is through this frame that Wojnarowicz addressed the accelerating AIDS crisis and the politics of AIDS in the United States at that moment. ITSOFOMO is a fierce meditation on history and power.
Unfinished film (sequence in memory of Peter Hujar) (1987) by David Wojnarowicz