Faile NYC Solo Show 06.09.07

by Peter Aleksa

As I first enter the warehouse on Chrystie St, announced by a large yellow 'Faile' Banner hanging above the entrance, I'm greeted by a metal statue of an orally fixated boy with a look in his eyes that I can't quite discern, something between nervousness and sadism. This opening theme, representative of an emotionally neglected yet over-protected society, stares you in the face as you enter, and returns a number of times throughout the exhibition. There are a number of common themes and images splattered throughout the show: images of Mao Zedong, images of women in danger, desperately needing to be protected by a strong hero of a man, and alternately women with a sense of power, holding a gun, or simply holding out. But it is this first theme of menacing vulnerability that everything else seems to run a connective thread through the works.

The expansive warehouse is an appropriate setting for Faile's work and a number of the artists' consorts mill about the entrance, while a deejay (i use this term loosely) runs through an eclectic playlist, lest you thirst for some aural stimulation.

The works--displayed on canvas and on a collection of stacked boxes--are intricately layered works combining elements of wheatpasting, stencil, and comic art. All these techniques converge to form a juxtaposition of words, speech bubbles, ads, and assorted images of pulp heroines, cultural icons such as Mohammad Ali and Chairman Mao, and distorted surf imagery of dashing young men on surfboards wearing horse heads atop bodies you would expect to see topped with beaming, all-american features and a perfectly coiffed do. Images and themes extend across panels and seem to continue into spaces beyond the canvas--blurring the line between the works on display and the broader canvas on which the collective is used to working.

Jesus Camp

by Pete Aleksa

Jesus Camp is the new documentary by directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (known for their acclaimed 2005 film The Boys of Baraka) that offers a frightening look into the spawning of a fanatical new generation in the Evangelical Christian movement. Winner of the Special Jury ward at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Magnolia Pictures is releasing the film in time for the flurry of political discussion leading up to one of the more decisive and divisive midterm elections in recent history.
The opening scene of Jesus Camp propels us into the rural suburban landscape from which the Evangelical movement gathers strength. Tracking shots travel down highways filled with trucks and billboards that offer both cheap food and promises of salvation; to a land of McDonald’s and megachurches. Where Evangelical parents home school their kids, teaching them that evolution and science in general are nothing more than myths. Where families say the pledge of allegiance to the Christian flag. This is where Pastor Becky Fischer, an Evangelical children’s minister preaches and recruits children for her “Kids on Fire” summer camp in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota.
The directors, for their part, do an excellent job to depict their subjects accurately and objectively, letting the overtly political overtones of the “Kids on Fire” group speak for themselves. Pastor Fischer claims that she wants to see children, “radically laying down their lives for the Gospel, because, hello, we have the truth!” Continuing, “We’ve got to stand up and take back the land.” Still, to her credit, Pastor Fischer, demonstrates a phenomenal understanding of how to reach children of the information age, the sight and sound generation, using a collection of Barbie dolls, jell-o mold brains, toy scythes, and various multimedia presentations in order to preach her message to the children. And the children themselves come across as bright, articulate, and engaging, and one can’t help but marvel at the depth of their faith and conviction.
But, as the group is engaged in frenzied prayer, brought to tears, screaming for the appointment of “righteous judges”, and being told, “This means war! Take these prophecies and make war with them!” one can’t help but make the association between the Kids on Fire and the Hitler Youth videos of the 1930s. This is a characterization, however, that the directors are not entirely comfortable with. “If we thought that these kids were interested in or capable of violence, or were blowing themselves up in front of abortion clinics, then we wouldn’t have made this film. We wouldn’t have wanted to give a platform to people who advocate violence,” responds director Heidi Ewing. “The most powerful thing this community has is to unify and vote as a bloc, and that is more powerful in a way, because it effects generations of people.”
In order to create a narrative amidst these one sided arguments of the Evangelists, the directors intersperse segments that feature broadcasts by radio host Mike Papantonio, an outspoken critic of the Evangelical movement. In doing so, the directors do an excellent job of framing, in the minds of the audience, the conversation that never truly takes place on the screen. Papantonio’s commentary voices the questions that the film seeks to explore, questions about the ramifications of the continued expansion of the evangelical movement and the ethics of indoctrinating children. “What we’re really hoping to do with this film is to spawn dialogue,” states Rachel Grady.
Jesus Camp opens September 22nd at the Angelika Film Center and Empire 25 Theaters in New York, and in various cities around the country.