Cult XX

by Holly Upton

@hollyoliuart

Cult XX is an exhibition that reveals the “emerging programme” of people coming together to celebrate their passion for female directors.

Films made by women have been largely overlooked, especially considering the important themes they often discuss, so the female gaze is rarely shown on screen.

Using ‘Queen of Diamonds’ by Nina Menkes as a study piece, an under-appreciated film from 1991, visitors will be immersed in the film, and walk in the shoes of the female protagonist.

 
 

This project is the design for an exhibition for the Brighton Biennale 2022, which will showcase the emerging programme of cult female-directed films. Fans will meet to discuss ideas about female directors they admire.

During the exhibition, visitors will be taken through a series of spaces that correspond to a scene in the female directed film ‘Queen of Diamonds’. Each of the spaces will have a significant meaning.

 

This constellation map was made to discover the focus of the exhibition. Combining my previous project, called the ‘female gaze’, my career aspirations in the film industry, and the future of entertainment, I became interested in how overlooked female films are making a resurgence, and how film gives women an influence on society.

 
 

I speculated that in 2022, the BFI will release overlooked films made by women, and in 2023, cult films made by women will proliferate because when they become easier to access, people will resonate with the characters; so they become more popular and an important part of history.

The Brighton Biennale 2022 will showcase 21 different exhibitions which will show future emerging programmes. My exhibition, named Cult XX (ie female chromosomes), will be located in the Lord Nelson Inn.

 
 

To begin designing, I looked at six categories of cult film spaces. I compared two films with female protagonists, one by a male and one by a female director.

Queen of Diamonds (1991) by Nina Menkes focuses on one female character, a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas who acts almost as the Monarch of the City of Sin, facing isolation, with a missing husband, and other women’s issues not often captured on screen. Her life is dictated by men. Themes such as feminism and anti-capitalism are represented through the contrast between the garish and windowless interior of the casino where she works and the vast desert. In the casino, the sounds are very disorientating, and the blackjack table separates her from the world and puts her almost under a spotlight, with many eyes on her.

Alien has a female protagonist but a male director. The film failed initially, despite the large budget and collaboration with HR Giger, which meant an entire detailed spaceship was made. The protagonist, is a scientist on the ship without much dialogue.

I then looked at two cult films with male protagonists by one female and one male director.

Mikey and Nicky by Elaine May is centred around toxic masculinity and follows two ex criminals running around the city at night avoiding a hit man. Some places are extremely grubby, with a stereotypical masculine colour palette, which contrast with where the women reside. These have a feminine colour palette and warmer lighting. The director shows the men in the urban areas, unlike the women who are only in residential spaces. With a budget of 4.3 million dollars, the film was all shot on location, and May faced many obstacles during filming and release, such as not being given final cut privilege.

I compared this film to Fight Club, a male directed cult film with a male protagonist. With a much larger budget of 63 million dollars, a whole house was built for the film. It was made to look derelict and abandoned, with a colour palette of putrid greens and yellows throughout the film, creating a grubby feel. Although this films centres around toxic masculinity, it was perceived as 'cool', and many people around the world recreated their own fight clubs.

Therefore, after dissecting these cult film spaces and comparing female directors to male directors, it was apparent that female directors are given lower budgets, but try to make bold statements by making obvious the typical choices for how men and women are represented on screen. This links back to my constellation map at the start and my topic last term, where I looked at the female gaze versus the typical male gaze.

This information informed my choice for the exhibition venue and building codes.

The exhibition will be held at the Lord Nelson Inn, Brighton, and will continue to travel around the world showcasing in bars and pubs. The choice for this venue is due to women being legally refused service in pubs until 1982, and pubs have historically been a place for men to gather and discuss ideas. The Lord Nelson Inn is a very typical pub with features found in many pubs and bars around the world.

This drawing shows the main components to the design. The stairs are resembling the way that women historically had to take the back entrance to venues and were often banned from using elevators. The skeletal structure hints at this concept, and is also inspired by the fire escapes found on the backs of buildings in Brighton. The design will vary depending on the location of the exhibition, and will also be inspired by the fire escapes there.

These images show the set up the making of the film, which would be a similar set up in the real life exhibition.

To conclude, the emerging programme of people gathering to discuss their ideas about film and women in film is becoming increasingly important and prevalent, having an influence on the way society thinks about important topics.

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