Screening & Live Event
Flesh Cinema: Screenings of Flaming Creatures and Christmas on Earth
Introduced by Ara Osterweil, author of Flesh Cinema
Followed by a book signing in the Moving Image Store
Film scholar Ara Osterweil’s new book Flesh Cinema: The Corporeal Turn in American Avant-Garde Film (2014, Manchester University Press) explores the groundbreaking representation of the body in experimental films of the 1960s and 1970s. Focusing on sexually explicit films by Andy Warhol, Jack Smith, Barbara Rubin, Stan Brakhage, Carolee Schneemann, and Yoko Ono, this book demonstrates how experimental cinema not only transformed American visual culture, but also the lives of those who created it. By situating these films in relation to the civil rights and sexual liberation movements, Flesh Cinema investigates how social politics continue to inform their meaning. Osterweil will introduce screenings of Jack Smith’s transgressive classic Flaming Creatures (1963, 45 mins. With Mario Montez), a Hollywood-inspired extravaganza filmed on outdated black-and-white film on a Lower East Side rooftop, and Barbara Rubin’s Christmas on Earth (1963, 30 mins.), a freewheeling record of a New York orgy, screened via two projectors and accompanied by 1960s pop soundtrack. A book signing follows the screening.
Free with Museum admission on a first-come, first-served basis. Museum members may reserve tickets in advance by calling 718 777 6800. For more information on membership and to join online, visit our membership page.
