The Warehouse Gallery of Syracuse University has programmed several special events in conjunction with the new exhibition, COME ON: Desire Under The Female Gaze, which focuses on the psychological, social, cultural and political dimensions of desire, subjectivity and pleasure. We are pleased to present Emotional Realism, curated by Emily Vey Duke and Cooper Battersby.

Over the course of the past 100-odd years, there's been an explosion of documentation of what can loosely be called "the real": ordinary lives unvarnished by artifice. This tendency can be traced back to the invention of the snapshot (around 1900) and has continued to progress steadily through portapacks, hand-held video cameras, camera phones, blogs, vlogs, you-tube and so forth. The idea is that these media allow access to a relatively "true" or "unmediated" self.

This preoccupation with the real is evident in mass media as well as in the art world. Never have documentaries garnered so much attention and never has what the British call "factual" programming (everything from Anderson Cooper 360 to The Surreal Life) composed such a huge part of what's on TV.

Why have we become so fascinated with the real that we have nearly abandoned the practice (if not the strategies and formulae) of fiction? What does the real provide that the fictive does not?

With Emotional Realism we propose that the truth claim made by works of this nature allows the viewer to identify with the author/subjects more profoundly, to engage with greater mercy.

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•  Rebecka. 40 mins 46 sec, 2004. Miriam Bäckström

In Rebecka, Bäckström makes a first attempt at explicit portrayal of an individual. She borrows the tools of investigative journalism: the recorded interview, the edited text and the intimate photograph.

Bäckström presents a filmed encounter between herself and Rebecka Hemse, a renowned Swedish actress. In many ways this interview brings to mind Josephson’s meeting with Barry. Rather than sharing their spontaneous reflections, both actors appear to be reading prepared answers. They play their parts so well that the last thing we want to do is to question their authenticity. Not even when Hemse picks up sheets of paper from the table in front of her are we willing to accept that her answers might be scripted.

Miriam Bäckström (born 1967 in Sweden) lives and works in Stockholm.

•  A Mother to Hold. 7 mins, 2006. LaToya Ruby Frazier.

In A Mother to Hold, Frazier depicts an intensely complex relationship with her drug-addicted mother. The artist’s combined role as daughter, photographer, and filmmaker transcends the objective approach of traditional documentary practice, which Frazier believes has allowed many observers to disregard the poor and working class African American experience.

Frazier received an Outstanding Achievement Award in Photography from Edinboro University and a Patron Purchase Award from the Erie Art Museum in Erie, Pennsylvania. Her photographs have been exhibited at Light Work, Community Folk Art Center, and the Everson Museum of Art, all in Syracuse, and at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, New York. A Mother to Holdwas screened at the 2006 Black Maria Film Festival in Jersey City, New Jersey, and in New York at the Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, the Black International Film Festival, and the Women of Color Film Festival, where she received the Producer’s Choice Award. Frazier has taught photography at Syracuse University, Light Work Community Darkrooms, and the Community Folk Art Center and has conducted workshops in central New York. Frazier is currently producing work in housing projects on the Bronx, New York.

•  5 More Minutes. 17 mins, 2005. Dena DeCola and Karin Wandner.

Two women spend an afternoon recreating time with one of their mothers. What begins as play-acting is broken open into a world where the sweetness of love and the agony of having to say goodbye exist side by side.

“I want to recommend a short film titled Five More Minutes made by Dena DeCola and Karin E. Wandner. They did it all. They wrote it, acted in it, and directed it. It's a strong and daring work. We live in such a buttoned–up, fearful, cautious culture. Five More Minutes is an attempt to open us up. And it’s not afraid to take chances to do it. It’s not afraid to be emotional.” – Ray Carney, author of Cassavetes on Cassavetes

•  In My Language. 8 mins 35 sec, 2007. Amanda Baggs.

Amanda Baggs is a young woman with autism who has created a powerful and articulate video that 'translates' from her world of environmental interaction to the neurotypical form of speech and perception. As well as a stunning view into how she experiences and makes sense of the world, it's also a forceful philosophical argument concerning how the mainstream understands people who don't think or communicate in a conventional way. Presumably speech-less (either through choice or development), Baggs communicates to the viewer using a voice synthesiser and on-screen text. A profound and exciting insight into an alternative humanity.

Baggs describes the work like this: "The first part is in my "native language," and then the second part provides a translation, or at least an explanation. This is not a look-at-the-autie gawking freakshow as much as it is a statement about what gets considered thought, intelligence, personhood, language, and communication, and what does not."

Emotional Realism is a Special Program curated for the San Diego Women's Film Festival.



The Warehouse Gallery exhibition, COME ON: Desire Under The Female Gaze, presents an array of ideas, imagery and experiences on the topic of sexuality from the perspective of women. The artists in this exhibition employ diverse media, including large-scale drawing, video installation, text work and ephemeral sculpture. COME ON reveals what is not represented in popular culture and provides a counterbalance to the ubiquitous imagery of sexualized female bodies created for mainstream heterosexual male sensibilities.

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