Lunes 11 de abril, a partir de las 8 pm en SOMA

Calle 13 # 25, Col. San Pedro de los Pinos, México D.F.

Kelly Kaczynski está actualmente en residencia en SOMA. Nos presenta su trabajo. Sesión abierta al público en general.

The Banana Man
Mike Kelley
1983, video 28:15 min

Writes Kelley: “This is my only truly solo video project. The tape is an exploration of character and was done in direct reaction to my performance work at the time, which was characterless. Video seemed a good way, by virtue of it not operating in ‘real’ time, of dealing with character and psychological motivation. ‘The Banana Man’ was a minor figure on a children’s television show I watched in my youth. I, myself, never saw this performer. Everything I know about him was told to me by my friends. The Banana Man is an attempt at constructing the psychology of the character — problematized by the fact that the character is already a fictional one, and by the fact that none of my observations were direct ones.”

Salty Banana
Kelly Kaczynski
2011, video in progress, 15 min rough (very rough) cut

This project began three years ago as a simple off-handed remark and casual challenge to my students: “I’m thinking of doing a remake of Banana Man, what do you think about that?” And they all said yes and I found myself committed to the project.

Like Kelley, this is my first true solo single channel video project. It came from a need to explore the performer as artist as well as addressing issues of gender that have been present in my work but not foregrounded directly.  I am interested in a translation that  addresses material choices and psychological mannerisms compared to the work of Mike Kelley. As a remake of Kelley’s original Banana Man, my video is attempting to collapse terms of the personal and public persona of the artist by unraveling the fiction of the fictional character that is Banana Man – an impotent entertainer, a trans persona, an emptied vessel born of public perception. But in short, this video is a simple exercise in constructing a performance using myself as the performer.