Jews Harp or Harpaud

TRT 6:30, 2023, video, 16mm 

Synopsis:

“If I held you any closer, I’d be on the other side of you” - Groucho Marx 

An examination of identity seen through the lens of the Marx Brothers and Antonin Artaud’s “Theatre of Cruelty.” Appropriating sounds, images and thoughts from The Marx Brothers, Wayne Koestenbaum, Elaine May, Susan Sontag and Artaud, “Jews Harp or: Harpaud” reflects on impersonation, doppelgängers, and the nature of Vaudeville as a shared art form and cultural practice. Gesturing towards performance as a form of survival, the effect of mirroring becomes a means of finding wholeness.