Fall Forward in VT | Sep 2010

At MoMA this Friday... and other reminders

If you're subscribed to the MIX email list, you should have already gotten this. If you didn't, and want to be subscribed, please let me know! Also... three requests from me.

1. Please come to MoMA and show your support on Friday.
2. Consider volunteering for the 23rd MIX Festival, and let me know if you're interested.
3. And, if you can, please donate to MIX today. We NEED cash, and any amount you can give will help.

Thanks,
Frank

Frank M Susa | fmsnyc@gmail.com | 212 608 0805

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	At MoMA this Friday ... and other reminders
Date:	Thu, 30 Sep 2010 01:56:38 -0400
From:	MIX NYC Events events@mixnyc.org
To:	mixnyc-events@lists.aktivix.org

MIX NYC: Presenters of the NY Queer Experimental Film Festival

This email is all about reminders. First, a reminder to save the dates of the festival: The 23rd NY Queer Experimental Film Festival November 9-14 at Theater for the New City 151 First Avenue in Manhattan Program catalog and full festival website coming soon. Support this year's festival with a tax-deductible donation. (A last-minute infusion of cash WILL make a difference.) We also want to remind you about a free event at MoMA this Friday, October 1st , 7 pm — featuring Barbara Hammer and MIX NYC Executive Director Stephen Kent Jusick: Sync Touch (1981) by Barbara Hammer Barbara Hammer MoMA Screening Series Friday, October 1, 7:00 PM Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street * FREE The Radical 1970s: Coming Out Barbara Hammer (American, b. 1939) is renowned for creating the earliest and most extensive body of avant-garde films on lesbian life and sexuality. In this evening of performance-driven films, Hammer captures the free-love era, the second wave of feminism, and the West Coast art scene. Program 79 Min. Followed by a Q&A discussion with Barbara Hammer and Stephen Kent Jusick, Executive Director, MIX NYC, Friday, October 1. On the line-up for this evening: Sisters! 1974. This film, made by, for, and about women, shows women in nontraditional roles running the machinery of the world. The film includes scenes of the first Women’s Liberation march in 1970. 8 min. Women’s Rites or Truth Is the Daughter of Time. 1974. An autumnal celebration, held on “witches’ land” in Northern California, of fall leaves, brooks and bathing, chanting circles, and women’s rites. 8 min. Dyketactics. 1974. Images of women and children romping in nature evolve into an intimate scene between two women. 4 min.  Menses. 1974. A humorous look at the trials of menstruation. 4 min.   Superdyke. 1975. Piano by Margaret Moore. Over one day, women wearing “Superdyke” t-shirts and carrying Amazon shields overtake San Francisco. 20 min. Women I Love. 1976. A fruit or vegetable provides a metaphor for the filmmakers’ relationships with women friends and lovers. 25 min. MoMA's Barbara Hammer film series is organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film. Special thanks to Canyon Cinema. * Admission to MoMA is free for all visitors during Target Free Friday Nights, held every Friday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets for Target Free Friday Nights are not available in advance. Your Target Free Friday Night ticket permits you to all other Museum galleries, exhibitions, and films. Call for Volunteers Lastly, we're also proud to remind everyone that MIX NYC is an ALL-VOLUNTEER grassroots organization. Why do we do it? Because queer experimental film is the best. It's EXCITING, REVOLUTIONARY, TRANSFORMATIONAL, AND RADICAL. Plus, everything is better when you do it together. From ticket-taking, to flyering, to sweeping the floors... we can use all the help we can get. If you would like to VOLUNTEER for this year's festival, or have questions about volunteering, contact us at volunteers@mixnyc.org.

MIX NYC 79 Pine Street #132 New York, NY 10005 212.742.8880 info@mixnyc.org www.mixnyc.org MIX NYC promotes, produces and preserves experimental media that is rooted in the lives, politics, and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise queer-identified people. MIX's work challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality while also upending traditional categories of form and content. MIX NYC, a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization, is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Materials for the Arts, Experimental Television Center, Visual AIDS, the Arcus Foundation, Gesso Foundation, Gill Foundation, Phil Zwickler Charitable & Memorial Foundation Trust, and the generosity of many individuals! To unsubscribe, email us at events@mixnyc.org.

Me oh my, Miami!

Divorce the State

A Solution to the Same-sex Marriage Problem Everyone Can Get Behind

Originally published in the Cubby Missalette

That recent Federal Court ruling overturning CA's Proposition 8 was at best a necessary evil, and at worst a diversion from a better strategy for solving the same-sex marriage problem. I say necessary because it is always best to eviscerate explicit injustice and discrimination from the law whenever possible. But I also say evil because—as a tactic in the fight for justice and equality for LGBTQ people—the ruling hurtles us further down a path that takes us in the wrong direction.

State involvement in determining who should get married is bogus. Marriage should not be a power of the State. As long as the State is involved in deciding who can get married, the underlying injustice and discrimination that is inherent in the old-fashioned model of marriage will be perpetuated.

The crusade to legalize same-sex marriage only seeks to empower the State to be more involved in our private lives, and in a perverse way just extends and reinforces a centuries-old way of thinking about class and privilege. The vision of justice that same-sex marriage proponents want is incomplete. They want certain rights for themselves, and they don't see that their goal will just re-draw the lines between the haves and the have-nots. Achieving state-sanctioned same-sex marriage will do nothing to advance the rights of ALL individuals, or afford protections to the underprivileged.

Marriage undeniably has its place in society, and I even believe LGBTQ people should have equal opportunity to participate in the ritual and pageantry of marriage. As one of my like-minded friends put it, “I love weddings.” But weddings and marriage are not the same. Weddings are events that two people and/or their families co-create to ceremonialize and solemnize their vows to one another. I wish we could focus on making marriage about these vows, about the promises two people make to each other. In other words, make marriage totally private—between the parties involved alone—and not involve the State one iota.

Married to the State demo @ NY Public Library
"Clones for Marriage" | Frank Susa © 2004

Ceremony, pageantry, declarations of love, sanctification—even legal compacts between two individuals if they so choose—are all fine. But there's no inherent need for the State to be licensing marriages, gay or straight. Let whomever bond however they wish. But let's empower the People, not the State to make it all official.

I say, let’s form a movement to divorce the State from being a part of any marriage. Let people who wish to marry handle all their issues privately. Contract law is robust enough to legalize so called "unions" between two people. And the state doesn't have to be involved at all, unless the contract is violated or one party wishes to dissolve it.

It's a solution that should work for everyone, if we all thought about it a little more. Fundamentalist religious people can have their anti-gay churches. Gay people can have their shared property. Liberals can have their fun suing each other in the courts. Libertarians can get on board because we’d be calling for more rigorous separation of Church and State. What's more, anarchists should also agree since nobody will be denying anyone access to anything. Even polygamists can get in on the fun.

Divorce the State and make marriage a completely private affair. It's the only way for us all to get what we really want—the basic human right to freely love who we want, how we want.

/\\

MIX's Fall Line-up

As I'm sure you've heard me say many times now, it's such an honor to be working with, and for, the great minds at MIX NYC. Please make a note of our fall line-up of films, screenings, and other events — and show your support by coming out! (Pun intended, of course.) — Frank

MIX NYC: Presenters of the annual NY Queer Experimental Film Festival Fall Line-up of Events

We couldn’t be more excited here at MIX to be bringing you an amazing line-up of queer experimental film events this coming fall season. Below is a preview of what you can look forward to. Most significantly, we’re super psyched to announce: MIX 23: The 2010 NY Queer Experimental Film Festival November 9-14 at Theater for the New City 151 First Avenue in Manhattan Save these dates! In addition, details are provided below for our other events this September and October: Weds, Sep 8 — ACT UP New York Exhibition— White Columns Gallery Show Opening Mon, Sep 13 — ACT UP New York — Queer/Art/Film screening curated by Douglas Crimp Fri, Oct 1 — Barbara Hammer Screening — The Radical 1970s: Coming Out Sun, Nov 7 — Maguerite Paris Screening — All Women Are Equal Our first event of the season is coming up this Wednesday night at the White Columns gallery on West 13th Street. It’s the opening night reception of ACT UP New York: Activism, Art and the AIDS Crisis — a multi-faceted exhibition incorporating the ACT UP Oral History Project, directed by MIX NYC Co-founders Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman. ACT UP New York: Activism, Art and the AIDS Crisis Opening Night Reception Wednesday, September 8 6:00 - 8:00 PM White Columns 320 West 13th St Free admission Exhibition runs through October 23 We are pleased to invite you to the New York City showing of ACT UP New York: Activism, Art and the AIDS Crisis, 1987-1993, a multi-faceted exhibition incorporating the ACT UP Oral History Project and a new installation by fierce pussy. The exhibit is presented by White Columns in New York City and will run September 9 - October 23, 2010. This same exhibition was originally presented in 2009 at Harvard, and is curated by Helen Molesworth and Claire Grace and organized by the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts and the Harvard Art Museum. A recently expanded video collection of the ACT UP Oral History Project will be presented in the main gallery space at White Columns, featuring 116 complete interviews screening on 14 monitors. The exhibition will be accompanied by parallel screenings, discussions, and a reading series curated by Sarah Schulman (details below). You can find more information about all the events on the White Columns website. Please also join us for a pre-opening dance party celebrating the ACT UP Oral History exhibit at White Columns. Come and bring your friends. ACT UP Dance Party Tues, September 7 10:00 PM - 2:00 AM Santos Party House 96 Lafayette St Free admssion, 21+ Downstairs: ACT UP Videos Upstairs: "Emergency" Dance Party Also commemorating the historic and artistic contributions of ACT UP, MIX is delighted to be co-sponsoring an evening of screenings curated by AIDS activist and writer Douglas Crimp — as part of the Queer/Art/Film screening series at the IFC Film Center. There will be two presentations of the films, one at 7pm and again at 9 pm, Monday September 13. The Films of Act Up Douglas Crimp presents The Films of ACT UP Monday, September 13 IFC Center 323 6th Ave at W. 3rd St. 7:00 &  9:00 PM $13 A first for Queer/Art/Film, we've invited the ever influential writer, and AIDS activist, Douglas Crimp to be this months' guest artist! It should be a special night, a gathering of old faces and new, as we remember, honor, and are inspired by the artists and activists of ACT UP NEW YORK. For the evening's screenings, Crimp will be presenting a highly personal selection of the AIDS and activist videos that have meant the most to him, including Fast Trip, Long Drop by Gregg Bordowitz, and works by Matt Ebert, Ryan Landry, Maria Maggenti, and Jean Carlomusto, many of whom will be with us for the screening! The evening likely to sell out, so buy your tickets in advance at: http://www.movietickets.com/pre_purchase.asp?house_id=9598&movie_id=100372&rdate=09%2F13%2F2010 For information about the Queer/Art/Film series: http://www.ifccenter.com/series/queerartfilm Sync Touch (1981) by Barbara Hammer Barbara Hammer MoMA Screening Series Friday, October 1, 7:00 PM Museum of Modern Art 11 West 53 Street The Radical 1970s: Coming Out Barbara Hammer (American, b. 1939) is renowned for creating the earliest and most extensive body of avant-garde films on lesbian life and sexuality. In this evening of performance-driven films, Hammer captures the free-love era, the second wave of feminism, and the West Coast art scene. Program 79 Min. Followed by a discussion with Barbara Hammer and Stephen Kent Jusick, Executive Director, MIX NYC, Friday, October 1. On the line-up for this evening:   Sisters! 1974. This film, made by, for, and about women, shows women in nontraditional roles running the machinery of the world. The film includes scenes of the first Women’s Liberation march in 1970. 8 min. Women’s Rites or Truth Is the Daughter of Time. 1974. An autumnal celebration, held on “witches’ land” in Northern California, of fall leaves, brooks and bathing, chanting circles, and women’s rites. 8 min. Dyketactics. 1974. Images of women and children romping in nature evolve into an intimate scene between two women. 4 min. Menses. 1974. A humorous look at the trials of menstruation. 4 min. Superdyke. 1975. Piano by Margaret Moore. Over one day, women wearing “Superdyke” t-shirts and carrying Amazon shields overtake San Francisco. 20 min. Women I Love. 1976. A fruit or vegetable provides a metaphor for the filmmakers’ relationships with women friends and lovers. 25 min. MoMA's Barbara Hammer film series is organized by Sally Berger, Assistant Curator, Department of Film. Special thanks to Canyon Cinema. And finally, we’re also proud to mention Marguerite Paris' film ALL WOMEN ARE EQUAL will be shown, also at MoMA, on Sunday, November 7 at 1:00 PM — as part of the NY Women in Film & Televsion's show of preserved films.

MIX NYC 79 Pine Street #132 New York, NY 10005 212.742.8880 mixnyc.org MIX NYC promotes, produces and preserves experimental media that is rooted in the lives, politics, and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise queer-identified people. MIX's work challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality while also upending traditional categories of form and content. MIX NYC, a 501(c)3 non-profit arts organization, is supported by the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Materials for the Arts, Experimental Television Center, Visual AIDS, the Arcus Foundation, Gesso Foundation, Gill Foundation, Phil Zwickler Charitable & Memorial Foundation Trust, and the generosity of many individuals!

New York's Community Gardens Need You

We're about to lose the law that protects community gardens from developers. Tell New York City officials: "Our community gardens need permanent protection so they can keep making New York City stronger, greener, and friendlier." Sign the emergency petition » Dear Friends, New York City's community gardens are at risk. After 8 years, the law that protects these shared spaces from being turned over to private developers is about to expire. The NYC Parks Department is working on new rules to protect these gardens, but garden advocates are concerned these rules won't be strong enough.1 City officials will release their latest draft of the new rules in just a few days — can you sign our emergency petition telling them to permanently protect our community gardens? http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/communitygardens In some parts of NYC, these gardens are the only kind of parks or public green space residents have. They bring neighbors together, teach our kids about protecting the environment, and help ease pollution in our dense metropolis. The only way to prevent that from happening again is by making sure the City's new rules give permanent protection to our community gardens — and support the creation of more gardens, not the destruction of the nearly 300 that we already have and cherish. Please sign the petition telling Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Parks Department to permanently protect our community gardens: http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/communitygardens Thanks, Frank Sources: 1. "New Rules Worry Community Garden Advocates" - New York Times, 7/6/10