I met Miranda July in the late 1990s at the Tidbit Gallery. The gallery had a storied short run. We struck up a conversation involving her red polkadot boots and patterned Summer shift, then ongoing about her writing that became Me, You, and Everyone We Know.
She had been doing zines with Johanna Fateman, then spoken word, and spoken word with images https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J419epd_oJA, performing venues like 17 Nautical Miles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA8E7Zb9P9c She collaborated on shows with Olympia and its diaspora Riot Girl bands including Cadallaca. She released several recordings of her stories on Kill Rock Stars and K records you can find. I suggested her to PICA, who commissioned Love Diamond, and PICA suggested her to The Kitchen. She has since built a sustainable career in social practice art, including Learning to Love You More, movies, and writing.
Along the way some of her short performances became short movies. Tonight you can see a few.
From CST:
"Atlanta (1996) — A 12-year-old Olympic swimmer and her mother speak to the public about going for the gold.
The Amateurist (1998) — A captivating video about surveillance, identity, watching, and being watched, which slides along the edges of horror and satire to create an unsettling portrait of a woman on the brink of technologically-driven madness.
Nest of Tens (1999) — Four alternating stories which reveal mundane yet personal methods of control, linked by a quasi-academic lecturer revealing the phobias and queasy strangeness that lies behind the everyday.
Getting Stronger Everyday (2001) — A dark and disturbing mystical tale about two boys who were taken from their families and then returned to them years later."
You can probably find most of them, but it will be more fun to see them with friends!
They encapsulate her slightly disturbing jumping narrative style and her unique voice on a DIY canvas.
Around that time she started her Big Miss Moviola / Joanie 4 Jackie video chain letter project. https://www.joanie4jackie.com/chainletter-tapes/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7KJw7icQjk Lady movie makers would send in their DIY shorts and a letter to viewers, they would be combined into as many as would fit on a VHS, and then sent out to the makers and subscribers.
July once explained, "The innocent woman is only innocent because she knows that if she shows what she knows nobody will like her and she won't be able to do all the important things she needs to do. Innocence is like an art form."
Vintage Miranda July on screen at the Clinton Street Theater. 2522 SE Clinton 7PM $10
