Synopsis:
Peripheral vision (60min estimated running time)
An exploration of indiscriminant obsession with art and woman, four women outside of common categories


Treatment
This documentary will focus on four women. The artist that I have chosen come from different backgrounds and range in age from late 20’s to early 40’s. These are women with whom I have formed personal relationships. There are many things that I have found compelling about each of their stories. The things that unite them thematically are the fact that they are all artists, all women and all queer for lack of a better word. I would like to tap into the parts of them that are resilient in the face of disappointment and personal insecurities. I would also like to show their successes and the road toward their ultimate goals. The style of the documentary is participatory. It is the intimacy of my association with these women that allows my access to the parts of them that I would like to highlight. I feel that without that same quality of intimacy used in the execution of the documentary it will be lacking that and fall short of my intention. Robin Brox is a writer with some notoriety. She has published a few books of poetry that include an anthology of women writers called Saucebox. Her work has a writer has included studying at the University of Maine securing a Masters with mentors like Jennifer Moxley. I have footage of her performance of a poem called “The Wingspan of Submerged Possibility”. I have footage of her reading this piece before an audience as well as alone. The perspective of the writer reading her work alone is cut into smaller sequences. These are then woven in to match in with the performance making it one long reading. Her struggles with ideas of beauty are shown through a mirror exercise where she talks about her relationship with her reflection. The way writing serves as her way of seeing herself as she want to be seen because of the total control of the realities that she creates through the words she chooses.
This mirror device will re-occur through out the piece with the other women as well.
With each of them I have appreciated over time how the have each worked out their individual drama around being a woman. There are enforced limitations that can sometimes go along with walking through the world in a female body. Naima Robinson at present time dances with a group called Movement for the Urban Village. There is a dance that they use with around twelve dancers that really shows that tension in a beautiful way. I would more than likely use the audio from one of interviews to serve as the audio for that sequence as it is the kind of dance that can be used without music. I also have footage from a performance where she dance at a show that I produced to “Mississippi Goddamn” by Nina Simone The way she speaks is very lyrical. I think it would be adequate in keeping the correct tone. I will also use footage of her with her family. I want to show what it feels like to be an artist, a mother and a daughter. She had to return home to live with her family other wise she would not have bee able to continue dancing and pay for childcare.
The other ways I want to link these and other character is through their ownership of the identity of artist and how they came to be comfortable with that if they have at all. Just as growing into a woman is an evolution becoming an artist is one as well, I want to use images of a toddler learning to walking and falling making missteps to show that. First I want to show the image in a hopeful light. Then I want to show the image with a darker undertone. One of my subjects, ____________, was born earlier because she was beaten from her mothers’ womb and as a result was unable to talk until she was 19 years old. She found her voice through the viewfinder of the cameras that her mother always had around the house. Her mother always dreamt about being a fashion model. The innocence of the child and the violence of her birth will be an interesting contrast. It also will show that art can transform tragedy.
The repetition of certain questions and exercises will provide a unity of themes throughout. There is also the fact as I have mentioned of the queer identity that each of them shares. Hanifah Walidah, a performance artist whose work as an actor, singer, writer, music producer has earned her respect in those realms. Her performance style has changed remarkably since she made the decision to come out. The way she handles a stage has changed. The subject matter of songs and performance art work has changed. I shot the music video that was inspired by aspects of gay life. I have access to archival material of her work before she came out and after. Here is where I the animation will come into play. Her physical appearance is very striking. She is very androgenous. I want to have an animated version of her being built as if on an assembly line. Brightly colored and very unnatural in the construction of an industry viable musician juxtaposed with images of a seasoned performer at home with whom she is.
I am interested in the idea of delineating the subjective experience of these women within the context of their relationship with their art and selfhood. The acceptance of truths about themselves as well as the bravery of becoming what you want to be instead of wanting without resolution. Owning the title of artist isn’t an easy road so I am interested in given an accurate representation of how they came to the conclusion.