We gauge an original by how well it translates into the present. Characters, sounds and time may be altered. This is commonly called the re-make or the re-telling of a story.
Through gender play and insertion of self into an existing narrative, Householder’s act of imitation leads to personal ownership. She roams delirious and half-naked around a bedroom; the male-voiced monologue and gestures jar with her breasts, which mark her as different. Incapable of seamless mimicry, this is still a role-play.
Text: Marty Spellerberg. Images: Johanna Householder & b.h. Yael, The Mission (Canada 2000, 05:06), courtesy of V tape.
Notes on V tape’s Curatorial Incubator, Round 2
- Introduction
- Blanca Casas Brullet’s Prendas
- Gunilla Josephson’s The Hedda Videos: Part 4
- Johanna Householder & b.h. Yael’s The Mission
- Laura Parnes’ Hollywood Inferno, Episode 1
- Eduardo Menz’s Las Mujeres de Pinochet
- Keith Sanborn’s Kritik an Reiner’s Vernunft
- Mirha-Soleil Ross’ Allo Performance!
- Ulrike Rosenbach’s Einwicklung mit Julia