Art Date No. 1 "Tonight Janet Leigh will be playing the role of Janet Leigh"
“What does it really mean to be a woman in Hollywood?” - Lady Gaga
One of the Hitchcock mosaics at Leytonstone tube station in London created by the Greenwich Mural Workshop.
Lasting 30 - 35 minutes, Art Date No. 1 is meant to be a haunting and thought-provoking consideration of the male gaze and women in Hollywood.
(element one) is a short selection from Don Delillo’s book The Omega Point.
(element two) is a video from Douglas Gordan’s art exhibit 24 Hour Psycho.
(element three) is the audio of Lady Gaga's emotional speech on surviving sexual assault.
“24 Hour Psycho is the title of an art installation created by artist Douglas Gordon in 1993. The work consists entirely of an appropriation of Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho slowed down to approximately two frames a second, rather than the usual 24. As a result, it lasts for exactly 24 hours, rather than the original 109 minutes.” -- 24 Hour Psycho - Wikipedia
This art date curation began, for me, with Don Delillo’s book, The Omega Point. In the opening chapter, the protagonist attends Douglas Gordon’s art exhibit. Delillo’s book led me to an online search and, though the full version of 24 Hour Psycho is not available to watch, 30 minutes of the exhibit is online, beautifully scored to Philip Glass’ Metamorphosis.
For this art date, you will need a desktop or laptop computer. You will have two tabs open and running at the same time - not always possible on smartphones or iPads.
(element one) Please read this short selection from chapter one of Don Delillo’s book The Omega Point.
“The nature of the film permitted total concentration and also depended on it. The film’s merciless pacing had no meaning without a corresponding watchfulness, the individual whose absolute alertness did not betray what was demanded. . . .This was the point. To see what’s here, finally to look and to know you’re looking, to feel time passing, to be alive to what is happening in the smallest registers of motion . . .Everybody remembers the killer’s name, Norman Bates, but nobody remembers the victim’s name. Anthony Perkins is Norman Bates, Janet Leigh is Janet Leigh. The victim is required to share the name of the actress who plays her. It is Janet Leigh who enters the remote motel owned by Norman Bates. . . What he was watching seemed pure film, pure time. The broad horror of the old gothic movie was subsumed in time. . . .It had to engage the individual at a depth beyond the usual assumptions, the things he supposes and presumes and takes for granted.”
-- from chapter one of Omega Point
Next, listen to (element two) Lady Gaga >>>>
while at the same time watch (element three) 24 Hour Psycho in a separate tab.
Tips: The videos do not have to be synchronized. In the 24 Hour Psycho video you can lower the volume by clicking the blue bars in the right-hand bottom corner.
I hope you find Tonight Janet Leigh will be playing the role of Janet Leigh a compelling art date.
I curate provocative art dates for you to enjoy solo or with others in your own home. Many of these art dates have online elements combined with supplemental reading, listening, and a variety of activities you can do at home to enhance how you express and experience art. Feel free to forward these art dates to others. Remember to check out the bonus material below.
These art dates are free of charge. However, they do take time, energy, and a lifetime of artistic experience to put together. If you’d like to buy me a cup of tea as a bit of thanks, I’d appreciate your generosity.
Yours,
Pattie
Bonus Material:
For some extra fright here is my friend, Gail Moffatt, hunting ghosts and saving women’s spirits: Medium: Gail Moffat
Empowering Internet Safety Guide for Women: