- SELF PORTRAIT IN MOTH FORMATION #17: MONSIEUR LE BARON VISITS
- The Maya Deren 1953 opus— Divine Horsemen, captures the sacred Haitian rituals of deities "mounting" their devotees. The worshippers first engage in dance and at a certain point of escape velocity, the deity shows up. This becomes apparent by the change in gait, facial gesture taking on extraneous personality traits.
In the first Baron assemblage, I felt I had captured a certain "dandyness." Here and there, I could spot gestures that seemed to successfully articulate the Baron—but for the most part, I was trying too hard at playing him.
This time around, I decided not to think about it. My plan was to goof around in front of the camera, and then allow the editing process to reveal Monsieur le Baron, should he choose to come a-calling. Or not. Truthfully, at the time of shooting, I could not tell that I had succeeded or not. Nonetheless I was having a good time trying: the Velvet Goldmine soundtrack played in the background, and everything seemed like a really wonderful idea.
- video stills/flash animation
