EVERYTHING IS REAL: RICHARD KERN’S CINEMA OF TRANSGRESSION

In 1985, Nick Zedd's Underground Film Bulletin published THE CINEMA OF TRANSGRESSION MANIFESTO proclaiming the mission of a movement that had already begun rupturing the art world beyond what even the No Wavers and artists like John Waters were doing. Their proposal to blow up art schools and never make a boring film again still rings out as a necessary call to action today: "Since there is no afterlife, the only hell is the hell of praying, obeying laws, and debasing yourself before authority figures, the only heaven is the heaven of sin, being rebellious, having fun, fucking, learning new things and breaking as many rules as you can. This act of courage is known as transgression. We propose transformation through transgression – to convert, transfigure and transmute into a higher plane of existence in order to approach freedom in a world full of unknowing slaves."

Richard Kern, one of the bravest amongst these celluloid subversives, began extricating out of the grime centrifuge capital of the world the most perverted, aggressive, offensively revolting atrocities imaginable. Like Andy Warhol Superstars from Dante's Inferno, models, performers and accomplices Lydia Lunch, Lung Leg, and David Wojnarowicz dominate us from behind the screen, spotlighted by Kern's incredible camerawork and intuition for getting under the audience's skin. Kern's influence is enormous, impossible to overstate, particularly in the world of photography. Kern still pushes the envelope, always riding the line of aesthetic acceptability.

The Beacon will be screening this collection of six early masterworks by Kern to showcase his amazing talent for unsettling even the most hardened criminals among moviegoers:
THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY BRAIN (1984)
STRAY DOGS (1985)
SUBMIT TO ME (1985)
YOU KILLED ME FIRST (1985)
X IS Y (1990)
SEWING CIRCLE (1992)

WARNING: As Kern says himself in an interview in 2010, "for something to appear successful to me it has to have a bit of a sleazy aspect, something that bugs the viewer and makes them feel like there is something about the image that they feel uncomfortable with." In line with the mission of The Transgressive Cinema movement, these films are intended to shock and they will. This screening is not for the squeamish or even moderately sensitive to visual representations of violence; these films were made to and still manage to disrupt, disquiet, and harm your mind. This screening contains images of rape, gun violence, genitals, body piercing, gore, stalking, child abuse, intravenous drug use, overdose, murder, bondage AND MORE! in any number of combinations and order. Going into this intense viewing experience, it is crucial that we keep an open mind but still remain sensitive to the extent that we allow the overwhelming sensations of fear, anger and disgust move us into the mania of revolution that can only be obtained from surviving such images rather than reacting with refusal and complacency. Despite their grotesque visuals, every Kern film has a sense of humor that satirizes the oppressive gaze of the camera, the porn industry and everyday violences of misogyny. Kern made these films in collaboration with these great performers to awaken our senses deadened by the televised image, Disney movies and the art film that does little more than allow us to sit for a few hours in a pleasant coma. This show will be anything but boring.

Join us for a night at the peephole into hell.