Studies 1 Through 12

Of the 12 jury selected shorts that opened the third and traditionally last (though not this year) of Signal + Noise 2009 there were some definitely some audience favourites. Jay Rosenblatt’s I Just Wanted to Be Somebody, a sort of thank you letter to 70s spokes-model turned anti-gay activist Anita Bryant for her unwitting role in helping to mobilize the gay community in Florida’s Dade County and across America, was met with cheers and laughter. A rhetorically clever work, as Rosenblatt meets hate fueled by fear and ignorance with gratitude, and a healthy bit of tongue in cheek. Brandon Blommaert’s (in attendance) Greycon 4 was also a hit, an awesome piece of stop motion and digital animation where a plush character with “duplication juice” for blood has to assassinate his accidental clone, or not; Blommaert expressed amusement at the variety of narratives he’d heard imposed on the work, and seemed to think them all viable. While the 12 videos shown also contained work of a more conceptual nature (Jeff Langille was thoroughly quizzed for the lack of sound in his Garden, Vancouver, 2008), the audience were feeling a little more amped up, no doubt in anticipation of the evening’s second program…

Guli Silberstein, Excerpt