On Thursday night I had the pleasure of working a show at ATA:
Lateral Mobility: Creative Works about Getting By.
More than just a send-off and fundraiser for filmmaker Kara Herold, it was an impressive collection of films, performance and readings by Bay Area artists. Here are a few of the highlights:
A raffle was held, where one of the prizes was career advice – by Kara’s mom. The first video of the evening was a sample of this advice given to filmmaker and writer, David. Kara’s mom grills David and gives a no holds barred critique of his working process and project choices. It was humorous in its scathing honesty and the false belief that another person’s problems are easily solved with the correct guidance.
In Dukes Up, performance artist Monica Bhatnagar fiercely depicts her face off with Daisy, her inner critic or defeating alter ego. Her Daisy fits in the palm of her hand, chain smokes cigarettes, and rips Monica’s confidence to shreds in a gravelly east coast accent. Anyone who has ever felt a tinge of self doubt could not help but cheer when she flings Daisy out the window and slams it shut.
Lynn Peril suspended the planned reading from her book, Swimming in the Steno Pool, to pay homage to the recently passed author and Cosmopolitan editor, Helen Gurley Brown. The profile was filled with humorous anecdotes and fascinating contradictions, all the while respectfully illustrating Brown’s importance and impact.
The evening wrapped up with selections from Warrior 3: A Tale of Meager Transcendence, a video of performance by the guest of honor, Kara Herold. Her comedic “live documentary” recounted the story of an artist struggling to reconcile her artistic aspirations with her work as an audio visual technician.
AND, there were barrels of wine and Schlizt beer. A good time was had by all.