Still image from Oh Paulo (dir. Cam Archer, US, 2024, 16 min., digital)Five-night series of screenings, guest-curated by Jon Davies, expands on exhibition with experimental works

Saratoga Springs, NY (March 12, 2025) — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College announces a screening series of experimental films and videos organized in conjunction with the exhibition a field of bloom and hum. Guest-curated by film scholar Jon Davies, the series begins March 20 and pulls out threads and expands on ideas in the exhibition, which celebrates on queer lives and networks.

Weaving together historical and contemporary film/video works by artists, the five-screening series, shown over four weeks, poses questions such as: How do we survive both individually and collectively when we are under threat? How does “queer” reimagine what kinship can be? What can we do for our elders and for those who will come after us? What lessons does the queer and trans past hold for our fraught present?

Rethinking body and voice, the personal and the political, and the space between the living and the dead, each program draws on a queer cultural practice that was key to the 1980s–1990s—the era when the word “queer” was first reclaimed to name a new wave of radical activist, artistic and intellectual activity catalyzed by the (ongoing) AIDS pandemic—and considers its meaning, power and value today, in a time of great peril. Each program has a theme and brings together 16mm film and video.

a field of bloom and hum film series:

  • Thursday, March 20, 6 pm: A Room of One’s Own. The first program features work in the queer diaristic tradition, treating the camera—or the celluloid itself—as a tool for confession, irony, erotic desire, and self-fashioning. Jon Davies will introduce the program and the series.
  • Thursday, March 27, 7 pm: The Hatred of Capitalism. Inspired by queer filmmaker/performance artist Jack Smith, this program embraces transgressive play and the punk spirit of making something out of nothing.
  • Thursday, April 3, 6 pm: The Dancer from the Dance. This program focuses on the performing body and its capacity for intimate communion with others, whether in the present moment or in longer timelines.
  • Saturday, April 5, 2 pm: Eternal Homes of the Transient Heart. The advent of AIDS demanded that we imagine queer community as embracing both the living and the dead. This program features films and videos that span from elegy to resurrection in response to the AIDS epidemic. This screening is part of the two-day Queer Archives Symposium on April 4 and 5.
  • Thursday, April 10, 6 pm: The Personal Is Political. A documentary feature and short film consider the political implications of queer family values, fraternal ties, and the private life of a major civil rights activist.

Details for each screening are available on the Tang website. a field of bloom and hum film series is presented as part of Whole Grain: Experiments in Film & Video, the Tang’s long-running exploration of classic and contemporary work in experimental film and video. Whole Grain is organized by Assistant Director for Engagement Tom Yoshikami.

All screenings are free and open to the public.

For more information, visit https://tang.skidmore.edu or contact the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080.

Links

About Jon Davies

Jon Davies is a curator, writer and scholar from Montreal. In 2023, he received his PhD in Art History from Stanford University and co-curated the 68th Robert Flaherty Film Seminar, Queer World-Mending, with artist Steve Reinke, which took place at Skidmore College. He is the 2024–2025 General Idea Fellow at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

About Skidmore College

Founded in 1903, Skidmore College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college of about 2,700 students located in the dynamic town of Saratoga Springs, New York. Consistently ranked as a top liberal arts college by U.S. News & World Report, The Princeton Review, Forbes, and more, Skidmore has also been recognized for its innovation, value, and sustainability efforts. Skidmore fosters academic and personal excellence — all driven by a belief that Creative Thought Matters. Its comprehensive array of opportunities encompasses more than 40 bachelor’s degree programs, including popular offerings in business, psychology, and the creative and performing arts; competitive NCAA Division III athletics; world-class facilities; and hands-on civic engagement and career development resources.

  About the Tang Teaching Museum

The Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College is a pioneer of interdisciplinary exploration and learning. A cultural anchor of New York’s Capital Region, the Tang’s approach has become a model for college and university art museums across the country—with exhibition programs that bring together visual and performing arts with interdisciplinary ideas from history, economics, biology, dance, and physics, to name just a few. The Tang has one of the most rigorous faculty-engagement initiatives in the nation, and a robust publication and touring exhibition program that extends the museum’s reach far beyond its walls. The Tang Teaching Museum’s award-winning building, designed by architect Antoine Predock, serves as a visual metaphor for the convergence of art and ideas. The Museum is open to the public Tuesday–Sunday, noon–5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. https://tang.skidmore.edu

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Media Contact

Michael Janairo

Tang Teaching Museum | Skidmore College

518-580-5542

mjanairo@skidmore.edu

Caption for image

  • OHPAULO_0.jpg: Still image from Oh Paulo (dir. Cam Archer, US, 2024, 16 min., digital), to be screened on March 20 as part of the a field of bloom and hum film series, courtesy Video Data Bank.