N: Yes, making a film was a new departure for me and my work as Narcissister as it’s autobiographical- there are pictures and videos from my family life, and I am the narrator. Can you say something about the experience of making a feature film, which is a new departure for you? K: Your new film, Organ Player, which premiered at Sundance in January, is based on your personal experience, which in itself is a feminist topic. In this short film, Narcissister’s play on the tropes of “racial kitsch” from Eastern European folk figures to the African American “mammy” challenges female racial stereotypes. I have become more interested in these subtleties recently. These issues come into play in the work whether I directly intend it or not. I have realized, because of the sheer reality of my identity, that it is impossible for me to not address these issues on some level. I am drawn to explorations of these issues from many different angles, through many different lenses. N: Yes, issues of both race and gender are important to me. K: Is it important that work addresses issues of race as well as gender? I hope to have the opportunity to perform as Narcissister as a very old woman. I would love to perform as Narcissister throughout my life. What I do know is that performing as Narcissister brings me so much joy and satisfaction! I don’t plan to stop performing at any point. Perhaps it won’t be essential for the project’s continued success. I don’t know how important it will be over time for me to be part of the work. It informs the work that other people are involved, it adds interesting complexity and meaning. And because of the mask, this kind of extension is built-in– it’s easy and inevitable. Extending the project and the character beyond me is central to my vision for the project, and makes sense as I already portray different women (and men) as Narcissister. I do take myself out of the work to a great extent with the Narcissister is You project, a photo series and video installations of other women and some men embodying the Narcissister character. Narcissister: Who and what I am–my ethnic background, my upbringing, my education, my sensitivities–has informed the work I have made as Narcissister, and my sensibility of course is so central in the work, so in this way my presence has been essential, at least for the project’s inception. Does this relate back to early feminist works where the artists-Carolee Schneemann, Adrian Piper, etc-were very much present in the performance? Kathy: Your work often includes and uses your own body as performance object and prop. The performance artist wears one of her trademark vintage masks. In a conversation with Kathy Battista, Editor in Chief of the Benezit Dictionary of Art, she talks about her work, its relationship to earlier feminist practice, and her recent foray into the feature film world. Her work questions society’s definitions of femininity and opens venues for political discussion, particularly regarding women’s rights. In 2014, she launched Untitled (Bare Breasted), in which she and other women walked the streets of New York City topless, highlighting the taboo against women being shirtless in public although it is acceptable for men. She is known for performances like Hot Dog and Every Woman, in which she performs a self-described “reverse strip tease,” removing items of clothing from her bodily orifices and using them to dress. Narcissister’s live works often incorporate elements of burlesque, strip tease, and vaudeville. In 2011, she appeared on America’s Got Talent and was boosted to public attention on the national stage. Narcissister wears a trademark vintage mask in most works, obscuring her identity and provoking the viewer to think of the artist as an “everywoman” rather than about an individual experience. She continues the tradition of second wave feminist artists, such as Adrian Piper, Lorraine O’Grady, Carolee Schneemann, etc., who challenged the status quo in their examination of gender roles, sexuality and equal rights. Narcissister is a Brooklyn based artist whose work includes performance, dance and activism as essential elements.
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