Fascination 2006
Distributed by Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre, 401 Richmond St. W., Suite 119, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 3A8; 416-588-0725
Producer n/a
Directed by Mike Hoolboom
DVD, color, 70 min.
College - Adult
Film Studies, Media Studies, Fine Arts, Gay and Lesbian Studies
Date Entered: 09/30/2009
Reviewed by Oksana Dykyj, Head, Visual Media Resources, Concordia University, MontrealMike Hoolboom weaves together a compelling biography of Colin Campbell, a pioneer of Canadian video art and a drag scene icon. Seamlessly integrating clips from 22 Campbell videos with interviews with friends and lovers, including John Greyson, shots from such disparate movies as Lust for Life or from a silent MGM studio documentary, he produces a portrait of a self-portraitist as Campbell’s body of work is a template for a type of self-portraiture in which the subject is engaged in acting and not acting. There is also an inclusion of a somewhat less defined running thread of clips of documentaries and educational films that impose a comparison with the Cold War as it had roughly the same lifespan as Campbell (1942-2001).
Campbell's video art work is very much of its time with the technical limitations that video artists had but it has nonetheless held up well, mostly because of the charismatic presence of Campbells various recurring personas on the screen. His themes are universal: desire, gender, the self in society.
Center for Canadian Contemporary Art provides a biography and the possibility of streaming some of Campbell’s videos. Hoolboom’s bio-documentary contextualizes Campbell’s importance to the video art community in conjunction with gay and lesbian culture of the last thirty years. Recommended.