On January 28, Miles Pflanz will be holding a retrospective screening of his 2013 films at Silent Barn. Pflanz — founder of the now defunct Fitness Center for Arts and Tactics — is a video and performance artist based in Brooklyn. His non-narrative films are documents of “public provocations, the aimless rage of youth counter culture and trance-like effects of intoxication, manual labor and political violence.” He began making videos at age eighteen at the dawn of YouTube in lieu of starting a band.
Pflanz’s films can feel like the strange intersection of film of transgression and a renegade plotless action movie starring whacked out twenty somethings wrecking havoc on New York City and themselves. Pflanz has been known to instigate quite chaotic and absurdist situations for his film subjects to navigate. The framework for all of his videos can usually be described in a single sentence, giving room for his actors to improvise the rest. While his concepts are something to ponder, minute moments revealed in the unscripted interactions are integral to his filmmaking style.
The actors in his films are more like collaborators and Pflanz allows their personalities, personal input and environmental circumstances steer his work. This past year, Pflanz had the opportunity to work with Elinor Thompson, Laura Bluer, Sigrid Lauren, Allison Wonderland and many other New York performance artists.
He tells us that we can expect everything from dominatrix’s wrestling to Esperanto lessons at McDonalds as well as musical intermissions brought to you by Krissi Kathrin (member of Exceptor, LAL8) and SADAF. Look forward to some fantastic costuming and strange sounds from these talented ladies. The five-dollar entry free is a small price to pay for a stellar night of off beat experimental film and music. “Miles Pflanz: Videos 2013 Retrospective Screening,” Jan 28, 8pm, Silent Barn, Brooklyn
