1991, VHS from Super 8
Curated by Karl McCool
GYM Sportsbar
9PM

Star Spangled Basher examines the relationship between the rise of homophobia and racism during times of frenzied patriotism. The image of Whitney Houston singing the national anthem at Superbowl XXV is juxtaposed with CNN news footage of military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf, and a five borough anti-violence march organized by the New York Lesbian and Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Made in 1991, Star Spangled Basher speaks to us today from a point in queer and American politics and culture bracing both in its differences from and similarities to our present condition.

Carl Michael George is an artist, filmmaker and curator. He is a founding member of Allied Productions, an artist umbrella organization, and has been actively involved with ABC No Rio, an experimental artist run exhibition and performance space, for more than 25 years. Many of his short experimental films have shown in festivals internationally, including at the Museum of Modern Art, the Cannes Film Festival Semaine de la Critique, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, and are in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library.

GYM opened in 2005, making it the first gay sports bar in New York City, a casual space with pool tables and nine flat screen TVs for viewing athletic events from football to rodeo. The downstairs Locker Room features a dartboard, foosball, vintage Ms. Pac-Man game machine, jukebox, and a copper-topped bar. GYM offers a distinctly gay male take on the traditional sports bar.