Lifetime Achievement

The Academy Awards acceptance speech that wrote itself. Was it demonic possession or simply delusions of grandeur? Either way, this acceptance speech churns up familiar terrain of self-adoration and self-loathing into a roiling frothy foam that we might call “the old razzle dazzle.” Bearing witness to all this glitz and glam are two old friends sitting on the couch, their eyes glued to the TV, wondering when they might spot themselves on the screen.

Pulling inspiration from Susan Stryker’s manifesto “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix” and from the film Beau Travail, this video and performance project takes an Academy Awards acceptance speech as its setting and serves as an extension of my ongoing research into passing: passing for cis, passing for female, passing for a woman.

The piece asks: Where is power located in the act of passing? What does it mean to be a trans woman in public? Who tells me what I am? When will I get my Oscar?

Lifetime Achievement (for video):

Talkback (June 16, 2021)

Preliminary versions of Lifetime Achievement (for performance):

Work-in-progress showing at HIT Gallery in April 2019 video by Chani Bockwinkel

Work-in-progress showing at TV in Berlin for Clump curated by Colin Self and featured on ClumpTV Episode 6 video above

CREDITS

2021

Written, directed, and edited by Silk Worm

Starring Silk Worm and Matia Emsellem

Video shot by Chani Bockwinkel and Arlen Levy

Audio recorded by Wren Farrell

Styling by Alfredo Romero

“Pavane for a Dead Princess” recorded by Peekaboo

“Rhythm of the Night” composed and performed by Corona

Graphic design by Frankie Leasing

Photography by Mariah Tiffany

Special thanks to

Matia Emsellem

Lydia Glenn-Murray

Cynthia Holloway

Mariah Tiffany

Florida Man

Mica Sigourney

Supported by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Jess Curtis/Gravity

2019

written and directed by Silk Worm

performer Matia Emsellem or Silk Worm

sound Isiah Lerma