Critical Writing Index

Videos eye economics and bodily functions

by Cameron Bailey

Now, Oct. 26, 1995, v. 15, no. 8, p. 79

This article is a review of the three videos featured in Corporal Economics, the 1993 Mercer Union exhibition curated by Andrew J. Paterson, Gary Kibbins and John Di Stefano. The three works investigate tensions surrounding economic structures and bodily functions.

"John Di Stefano’s Tell Me Why: The Epistemology of Disco, investigates the gay movement, and its relationship to AIDS and market driven value systems. A Short History of Water, a video by Gary Kibbins, imitates an academic slide lecture to posit a hypothetical replacement of money by water as the global medium of exchange. In Marx: the Video – A Politics of Revolting Bodies, Laura Kipnis seizes upon Marx’s own dysfunctional body in order to highlight Marxism’s corpophobia." [https://www.mercerunion.org/exhibitions/corporal-economics/]

The exhibition was on view from September 28, 1995 to November 4, 1995.

Note: a picture from Laura Kipnis' piece Marx: The Video, a work about socialist icon Karl Marx, is included.

ITEM 1995.035 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Andrew J Paterson

Tell Me Why: The Epistemology Of DiscoJohn Di Stefano

Marx: The VideoLaura Kipnis

A Short History of WaterGary Kibbins