Flaming Creatures ...

Performed on a soundtrack with music taken from the 1930ies movies, this film unfolds as a fresco of cheap exoticism. The magic is created by the loss of all landmarks whereas accessories filmed very closely become the scenery. Dressed up in flamboyant feminine clothes, some “creatures” are staging a sexual frenzy. Though genders mingle due to the usage of accessories such as prosthesis and wigs, the strength these bodies express is exhibited with a carnal vitality leaving behind all moral discourse. Subject to numerous censorships, the film has been screened secretly by Jonas Mekas.

Jerry Sims, Ken Jacobs and Reese Haire intervene on the site of the future Lincoln Centre, an architectural project dedicated to the stage and performing arts. Before the building, fitted with arcades, can be seen, rumbles and debris offer a scene well behind anything spectacular. Adhesive band on the camera lens contribute to add an extra distance to the subject.

The slow movements performed by actors such as Jack Smith, Mario Montez and Gerard Malanga, are matching up with the soundtrack composed by Tony Conrad. The cord instrument, the Chumlum, is bringing rhythm in the appearance of some costumed characters wandering around hamacs and crossing hanging drapes. The image itself turns into different colourful superimpositions erasing all references and overlapping the levels of realism.