<div dir="ltr">This video is a 2 minute excerpt from the 32 minute version of '<a href="https://kennethtam.info/Breakfast-in-Bed">Breakfast In Bed</a>', which I was able to view at a museum. The text accompanying the video explains it was inspired by the "various activity-based groups that men create for socializing" and that the actions on screen are part of a mock men's group engaging in 'staged play.' <div><div><br></div><div>The excerpt starts with the men mostly shirtless and attempting to tag each other with paint. It transitions to a section where one man compliments another, and there is another compliment section near the end. In their attempts to be genuine and compassionate, they appear embarrassed to be intimate. They are almost unable to compliment each other, instead pointing out their physical features as complimentary behavior rather than any laudable actions by the men. In the next scene, the men are in a circle dance, a more traditional community practice in Europe and the Middle East but relatively uncommon in the US. They wear bells from their waist in a possibly absurd phallic gesture. They are smiling, enjoying the game. I thought of children engaging in the American "Ring-a-round the rosie" schoolyard dance/song. They are momentarily transformed.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Overall, the video triggers thoughts on the absence of public male tenderness in American society. There seems to be no place for this kind of vulnerability, and 'Breakfast in Bed' reflects this issue and shows occasional moments of breaking through this barrier. </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jul 25, 2018 at 12:01 AM, Daniel Lichtman <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danielp73@gmail.com" target="_blank">danielp73@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<br><div dir="ltr">And <span style="text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;float:none;display:inline">I this work was suggested for inclusion by guest moderator Lee Tusman!</span><br class="m_3564435221986695671gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Tue, Jul 24, 2018 at 11:00 PM Daniel Lichtman <<a href="mailto:danielp73@gmail.com" target="_blank">danielp73@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">Kenneth Tam<br>Breakfast in Bed<br><br>Video link: <a href="https://kennethtam.info/Breakfast-in-Bed" target="_blank">https://kennethtam.info/<wbr>Breakfast-in-Bed</a> (two minute excerpt)<br><br>Kenneth Tam is an artist who uses sculpture and video to explore his interests, which include Abercrombie and Fitch, public restrooms, and the films of Tsai Ming-Liang. Recent solo shows include the Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge and Night Gallery, Los Angeles.<br><br></div>
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