MARC MOSCATO WRITES A BLOG

A NOT TOO DISTANT PAST:
FILM & VIDEO FROM UNDERGROUND CHICAGO
CURATED BY MARC MOSCATO
Thursday, February 5, 8PM
The Waypost, 3120 N. Williams Ave, Portland, OR

From the Haymarket martyrs, to late ‘60s radicals, to today’s cultural resisters, A NOT TOO DISTANT PAST examines Chicago’s radical past through activist, experimental and, above all, underground representations of the city’s social movements. This collection presents a range of personal and political approaches, including historical documentary, “guerrilla television,” video art and more. Encapsulating over 150 years of struggle, A NOT TOO DISTANT PAST illuminates issues from Chicago’s past – many of which continue to be vital to the city today.

Program Includes:
Toxic Shock
Vanessa Renwick, 1983, 16mm, 3 min
Penetration up the wazoo, blood, fire, gas, needles, tampons, liquid power and cocktails of the burning sort. An experimental response to sweating out near death with Toxic Shock Syndrome.

What the Fuck Are These Red Squares?
Kartemquin Films, 1970, 16mm, 15min
Striking students meet at a “Revolutionary Seminar” at the Art Institute of Chicago in response to the invasion of Cambodia and the killing of protesting students at Kent and Jackson State Universities. They explore their role as artists in a capitalist society and issue questions like: What are the implications of the artist’s elitist position in America? Is it possible not to be co-opted, as “radical” as one’s art may be? What are the connections between money and art in America? Between the “New York Scene” and the rest of the country?

Hay! Market Research
Dara Greenwald, 3 min, video, 2003
Hay! Market Research was a constructed market research and advertising group committed to assessing and advancing common knowledge surrounding the Haymarket Riots of 1886. A billboard’s message is changed every hour, raising questions about the history of the Haymarket riots and the history of the struggle for the eight-hour workday.

Jean Genet in Chicago
Frédéric Moffet, 26 min, video, 2006
A queer rewriting of the events surrounding the 1968 National Democratic Convention in Chicago from the point of view of French writer Jean Genet. Along the way Genet will meet, amongst others, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, the Yippies, the Black Panther Party and the Chicago police force…Ultimately, the video is about the difficulty of aligning political and sexual desires.

Fred Hampton: Black Panthers in Chicago (excerpt)
The Videofreex, 1969, video, 10 min
The Videofreex, a video collective and pirate TV station from upstate New York, traveled to Chicago in 1969 to document the Weather Underground and the Chicago Eight trial. They conducted this interview with Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, in October 1969; just over a month before he was killed by Chicago police.

The More Things Stay the Same
Marc Moscato, 2008, video, 12 min
The More Things Stay The Same examines the life and world of Hobo King, “Clap Doctor” and whorehouse physician Dr. Ben Reitman (1879-1942). From labor unrest to sex education to the genesis of the homeless crisis in America, Reitman’s work continues to have importance and relevance to the hard-hitting issues of today. The More Things Stay The Same not only sheds new light on this lost but vital slice of underground Americana, but also provides an urgent rallying cry for the present.

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High-Res Stills

The More Things Stay the Same by Marc Moscato

Jean Genet in Chicago By Fred Moffett