Still Lives (In The Americas)

2003, Video, 20:00 [clip]

by Ho Tam

By bringing portraiture in painting and video together, "Still Lives" creates a visual experience that connects the art making process with the artist and his models.  Loosely tied together by a baroque opening and finale, the video recalls some of the prominent queer aesthetics such as kitsch, camp and improv in the low art cinema of Kenneth Anger, Jack Smith and George Kuchar.  While paying tributes to these avant-garde filmmakers, "Still Lives" maintains its focus on the portrayal of ten Asian men -- their struggle in the everyday life that imitates art and vice versa.

ISBN 978-1-55467-449-7