Exciting Divorcée

One thing I've been working on recently, a video called Exciting Divorcée, involves a multi-screen projection of three Dirt Devil television commercials starring Fred Astaire. At the time they came out (90's) critics were indignant over these ads, which featured the digital insertion of vacuum cleaners into clips of well known Astaire dance solos. Sensitive fans of Fred Astaire (and classic Hollywood musical style) saw this as a distasteful insult to the man and to the genre, but their high-minded disapproval was heightened by the fact that Astaire's widow Robyn Smith Astaire had been burning many bridges in her litigation-happy obsession with protecting Astaire's image... her dogged efforts even led to the passing of California's "Astaire Celebrity Image Protection Act". The controversy generated by her decision to permit use of (sell) Astaire's image to a tacky, blatantly commercial endeavor is punctuated by her simultaneous righteous (and loud) outrage over a condom manufacturer's attempt to put Fred's face on their packaging. The contradiction fascinated me and led to the form that is gradually taking shape for this piece, which includes the three Dirt Devil advertisements projected onto three screens made from oversized (4 inches in diameter) latex condoms. I'd like to add an element to the installation that directly addresses the implications of Robyn Smith Astaire's "ownership" of her head husband's image, but in its current form, the crux of the work is the dynamic between the material of the projection surfaces and the projected imagery.

I’m also concerned here with considering the function (and meaning) of objects. The condom’s identity as on object is based on its function, so that recognition of the object immediately evokes a meaning that must in some way be sex-related. I’m interested in whether or not the image of Fred Astaire, a symbol of maleness based on neutered sexuality and chivalry, projected on the condom screens will “neuter” the object, or whether the nature of the object can successfully sexualize Astaire. The piece is based on questioning the latter idea, insofar as it seems to be a firmly held conviction of Astaire’s widow, evidenced by her fierce protection of Astaire’s likeness against the condom manufacturer. But it’s my hope that the relationship between the material projected upon and the projected images can build some new meaning or associations beyond an either/or type of binary.

Here's some documentation of the in-progress installation... unfortunately there's no sound on the video. I'm workin' on it.