Artists Space

The protagonist of Jason Simon's documentary Vera is an attractive and vibrant young woman grappling with the transition between a history of daunting debt – due to her habit of pathologically collecting high-end clothes and accessories – and her new, restrained behavior that reflects her desire to control spending and get control of her life. In Simon's treatment, Vera's obsessive-compulsive excess takes verbal form, essentially allowing her to speak for herself; Simon simply facilitates her self-portraiture. Vera is paired with Sadie Benning's In Parts, which explores American landscapes through the recent acquisition of a vintage black and white tube-video camera, dating to the earliest days of portable video equipment. It begins with a single-shot study of a leopard pacing in its cage: an extended take on the need to move. What follows is a journey through the Joshua Tree environs of Julie Ault and Martin Beck, where some of the collection in Macho Man, Tell It To My Heart resides, before a return East.

This program is preceded by Cinema Elaine.

This project is made possible in part with public funds from NYSCA’s' Electronic Media and Film Presentation Funds grant program, administered by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes (www.NYSCA.org www.eARTS.org).