As part of the special program dedicated to the 120-year anniversary of Sergei Eisenstein, video essayist Kevin B. Lee will perform as a desktop-mc and present essay films about the iconic director's oeuvre. Witty reflections by Zoe Beloff on Eisenstein’s unrealized movie Glass House, and the research into homoerotic allusions in his movies by Mark Rappaport will become reference points for Lee's lecture-performance.
Kevin B. Lee—American filmmaker and researcher—managed to create more than 360 video essays analyzing movies and media. Developing this new form of audiovisual criticism, he moved on to the format of a desktop film. The first essay film, which he will present as part of his desktop performance is Glass House by New York artist and film director Zoe Beloff. It is based on Eisenstein's notes and drawings for a film project, which Sergei Mikhailovich proposed to the Paramount studio in 1930. It’s theme was to be the architecture of surveillance and control. Eisenstein presented a huge skyscraper, where not only the walls, but also the floors and the ceilings were made of glass—the world of unconditioned visibility. The film, which assumed three characters—an architect, a poet, and a robot, Eisenstein viewed as a satire on American capitalism.
In the second film-essay by American film critic Mark Rappaport SERGEY / SIR GAY Eisenstein also appears as a virtuoso master of plastic arts. Among thousands of his magnificent drawings homoerotic images are found. They were created for the author's own entertainment and were not intended for publication. This essay offers a completely new approach to the study of homosexuality in the director's films.
After the screenings of Zoe Beloff and Mark Rappoport’s works, Lee will explore the Internet in real-time in an attempt to learn what of Eisenstein's heritage can be learned today, in the era of online-video, digital filmmaking, and the emergence of such a film genre as screen life.
As part of the performance, the following films will be screened:
Glass House
Directed by Zoe Beloff
USA, 2015. 21 min. 18+
SERGEI / SIR GAY
Directed by Mark Rappaport
France, USA, 2017. 36 min. 18+