Bottleneck

single channel HD video & sound installation
3 min. 26 sec. variable loop
2011

Bottleneck is a partial reenactment of a famous western-themed catfight scene from the 1939 film Destry Rides Again. Working with the original soundtrack of a crowd of cheering men, the video reinterprets the scene to depict two stuntwomen fighting in a generic art studio space without any visible male characters, deconstructing the male gaze and rupturing image-sound relationships.

credits:
Director & Editor: Julie Orser
Stuntwomen: Melissa Barker as Frenchy and Meegan Godfrey as Mrs. Callahan
Camera: Julie Orser and Michael Underwood
Second Camera & Lighting: Christopher Richmond
Hair & Make-Up Artist: Mira Cho
Costume: Jennifer Bruce
Crew: Jon Irving and Noah Spindler
Additional Props: David Bell
Sound: Appropriated excerpt from the 1939 film Destry Rides Again
Max/MSP/Jitter Programming: Chris Bassett
Special Thanks: Chris Bassett, Jennifer Bruce, Whitney Hubbs, Jon Irving, Steven Simon,the Stuntwomen’s Association of Motion Pictures, Katie Rowe, Michael Underwood

exhibitions:
Doublespeak, UMOCA Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT, 2011
ARTLAB Film Forum, Curated by Akosua Adoma Owusu, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC, 2011
In Practice, UCLA's Department of Art Staff Biennial Exhibition, New Wight Gallery, University of California Los Angeles, CA, 2011

screenings:
Storefront Video, Curated by Akosua Adoma Owusu, Transformer Gallery, Washington DC, 2011