Get pumped! Framed around the fetishized spectacle of the ideal athletic body, this screening of short films looks at the unattainable (for most) muscular form as a subject of athletic introspection. From silent film to social media, these films take on the insidious sexism of sports commentating, examine gendered “accent gestures” in gymnastics, and feature an introspective Arnold Schwarzenegger likening himself to a sculptor with his body as the material. What a flex!
Mudonna, mascot of the St. Paul Saints, will introduce the screening. She will be available for autographs and photos in the Cinema lobby from 6:15-7:00 pm.
Wear a jersey and get in free!
Program
William K.L. Dickson, Sandow, 1894, 1 min.
Macon Reed, Gymnasts, 2014, 7 min.
I AM A BOYS CHOIR, demonstrating the imaginary body (excerpt), 2015, 12 min.
Mark Bradford, Practice, 2003, 3 min.
dana washington-queen, Ode to AND1: Notes on the Black Sporting Body, 2020, 4 min.
Internet, Two Finger Kung Fu, c. 2009, 20 sec.
Tintin Cooper, Shaka (Dialed In), 2024, 1 min.
Rachel Rampleman, Bodybuilder Study (Pose, Stroke, Lift, Carry), 2010, 7:30 min.
Michel Brault, Marcel Carrière, Claude Fournier, and Claude Jutra, La lutte (Wrestling), 1961, 27 min. Courtesy National Film Board of Canada.
Babeth Mondini-VanLoo, Arnold Schwarzenegger: The Art of Bodybuilding, 1977/2019, 8 min.
Thomas A. Edison, Japanese Acrobats, 1904, 2 min.
Program length: 73 min.
Sandow and Japanese Acrobats courtesy Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.
Screening on Loop in the Bentson Mediatheque
Wednesday–Sunday, October 23-27
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi, Suspension, 2020, 7 min.
Antoni Muntadas, On Translation: Celebracions, 2009, 10 min.
Bios
Astria Suparak’s cross-disciplinary projects address complex and urgent issues made accessible through a popular culture lens, such as science-fiction movies, rock music, and sports. Her work as an artist has been exhibited and performed at the Museum of Modern Art, Institute of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and ArtScience Museum, Singapore. She has curated exhibitions, screenings, and performances for the Liverpool Biennial, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Carnegie Museum of Art, The Kitchen, and Expo Chicago, as well as for such unconventional spaces as roller-skating rinks, sports bars, and rock clubs. Based in Oakland, California, Suparak is the winner of the 2022 San Francisco Artadia Award.
Brett Kashmere is a filmmaker, curator, and writer living in Oakland, California. His creative and scholarly practice reframes dominant narratives about sports and illuminates new perspectives and histories. Kashmere’s films and videos have screened at the BFI London Film Festival, Milano Film Festival, Kassel Documentary Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Museum of Contemporary Photography, UnionDocs, CROSSROADS, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. He is executive director of Canyon Cinema Foundation, founding editor of INCITE Journal of Experimental Media, and co-editor of Craig Baldwin: Avant to Live! Kashmere holds a PhD in film & digital media from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Accessibility
For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.
For questions on accessibility, or to request additional accommodations, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.
Before Your Visit
Paid underground parking is available on-site. Enter the ramp on Vineland Place at Bryant Avenue. Biking or taking Metro Transit? Learn more.
Visiting the galleries? Enhance your experience by joining a public tour or with self-guided resources accessible for free on Bloomberg Connects.
Personal photography is permitted throughout the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, but please turn off the flash when visiting the galleries.
To help us promote future events and programs, this event may be photographed or recorded. By attending, you consent to appear in this documentation and its future use by the museum. Please let staff know upon arrival if you prefer not to be photographed.
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