Performing Sexuality

Flaming Creatures (USA 1963, Jack Smith, 43min) + Chumlum (USA 1964, Ron Rice, 26min) + Fuses (USA 1965, Carolee Schneeman, 18min) + Dyketactics (USA 1974, Barbara Hammer, 4min)

Smith's frenzied, whirling, decadent tableux of sexual misfits directed a flamethrower at the moral guardians of the establishment, and was seized by the police at its premiere. Inspired by, and featuring Smith, Rice's Chumlum is a sublime kaleidoscope of flesh and fabric, bringing drag glamour into the perceptual realm of the psychedelic. Schneeman's erotic classic Fuses meanwhile aims to move beyond fetishism in an investigation of the correspondence between the intimate act of lovemaking and its representation on screen.
We are delighted to welcome filmmaker Barbara Hammer to introduce this programme which will also include her pioneering lesbian work Dyketactics (US 1974, 4min) in the programme. Presented in association with Tate Modern, whose full retrospective ‘Barbara Hammer: The Fearless Frame' runs 3-26 Feb 2012 (tate.org.uk).

Joint ticket available with The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach: £13.75, concs £10.25 (Members pay £1.50 less). This offer is not available online, please call the Box Office on 020 7928 3232 to book.