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James Franco Brings James Franco To A Basement In Chinatown
By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 11, 2011
Modified Aug 11, 2011
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Aug 11, 2011
Modified Aug 11, 2011
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Last Saturday night we were standing in a sauna-like basement on Canal Street watching James Franco on a monitor reading Rob Lowe's autobiography. Standing next to us was the real life James Franco, also watching James Franco on a monitor reading Rob Lowe's autobiography. Narcissism? Art? A long time ago we decided not to judge the art of others—which may have had something to do with getting a fine arts scholarship to college and being immediately denigrated for our work with charcoals, or whatever. Grading art never made much sense. So we'll save our judgment for Franco's work in fetish porn, because if our work in the adult entertainment industry (thanks art scholarship) taught us anything, it's that you can totally judge porn, those who make it, and those who watch it.
That said, we present without comment some photos from the opening night, along with the appropriate information you'll need to make your own decision to go, or not to go. It's liberating isn't it?! The show, called High/Low, Rob Lowe, will be running through August 28th at Terence Koh's Asia Song Society at 45 Canal Street. Here's what you'll see...
The installation features film and video work by Franco, exploring "the numerous ways in which we view, absorb, process, and re-interpret media." You already know what awaits you in the basement (though the real Franco won't be around, he's a busy guy!), but in another room you'll discover Three's Company: The Drama. This is "an installation premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival [which] strips the beloved 1970’s sitcom of its laugh track and overlays the original footage with a kitschy, sexualized reenactment, thus deconstructing the light-heartedness of daytime television and questioning our easy identification with the drama’s environments and characters."
Other areas hold television sets and projection screens that show "unseen footage recorded by Franco on iPhone and 8mm film in a fluid stream of environments— from the raw Utah landscape of 127 Hours to university campuses to his frequent car journeys." It's the Total James-Franco-As-Self-Exposing-Artist Experience you've been waiting for.
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Asia Song Society
High Low Rob Lowe
james franco
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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