Wednesday, December 15, 2021 at 7pm
In the Land of the Elevator Girls

155 Freeman Street, Brooklyn

Curated by Whitney Claflin

Whitney Claflin, one of New York’s most exceptional painters, has organized a show for Light Industry. We extended to her, as we regularly do to the artists, filmmakers, and writers we admire, an invitation to introduce a film, or group of films, at our space. What she assembled was even more idiosyncratic and surprising than we dared hope. Claflin has always been a magpie, frequently affixing to her canvases those objects whose strange glint catches her eye, and that sensibility has animated what will be our last program of 2021. It proceeds as a kind of autobiography by way of a YouTube playlist. We begin with a turn-of-the-century commission from Rosemarie Trockel and continue on to what is arguably the greatest episode of MTV Cribs, which walks us through the ne plus ultra of shabby chic.

Indeed, television figures prominently in the screening. What we’ll see is not the network era that raised the Pictures generation, nor the rotting smorgasbord streaming in the present, but rather the 4:3 memories of an elder millennial—a Pavement video stumbled upon while babysitting that brands the brain, for instance, or the gradual evolution of a sketch show’s opening credits. Like Nam June Paik, Claflin is also waiting for commercials, and there are some unforgettable ads for disgusting chocolate and Molson Ice in store. Equally of interest to her is electronic media’s graphic possibility, which she immersed herself in during her years working at EAI, a chapter represented here by a Vasulkas B-side. School days are remembered: a glimpse of early 00s Providence and the warped humor it nurtured, a Flash animation presented by John Miller during a talk to MFA students. Subtle rhymes proliferate (Maggie Lee’s Patchouli Candle brings us back to Trockel) and good vibes prevail. After you exit the cinema, you too might find yourself, like Claflin, returning, over and over, to a certain joyous dispatch from the Celtics’ locker room.

Total running time: approximately 50 mins.

Tickets - Pay what you can ($8 suggested donation), available at door, cash and cards accepted.

Please note: seating is limited. First-come, first-served. Box office opens at 6:30pm.