Tia Mak
(2007, live cinema performance)
TIA MAK is a live VJ performance that remixes the classic documentary Nanook of the North (1923, dir. Robert Flaherty) into an avant-garde, rock and roll show that imagines eco-catastrophe. Like a live music performance, there is a general blueprint for what will happen. But the specifics... shot choice, rhythm, and pacing change as the performer gets a feel for the venue and how the audience is feeling.
Nanook is well-known for its staged sequences within the “documentary” oeuvre, but when revisiting the film’s sequences, Tarr un-edits the film and reveals many hidden narrative constructions, laying bare the artifice live on stage.
Selected Screenings: SuperDeluxe (Tokyo), Dallas Video Festival, IndieGrits Film Festival, Penn State, Iowa City Documentary Film Festival, UFVA 2009, Wake Forest University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Coker College Centennial Celebration
