Robert "Budd" Dwyer served in the Pennsylvania State Senate in the 80s and was caught up in a bribery scandal that ended with Dwyer taking his own life in front of television cameras during a press conference at his office in Harrisburg, the state capital of Pennsylvania. The film tells the complete story of the scandal and suicide. Jesse Pollock reviews the film which premieres this Saturday @The Red Vic here in SF.
Before the days of internet video you had to watch your snuff films on VHS
and let me tell you, they were not easy to come by. I didn’t happen upon the
1970 Faces of Death series until I was well into my mid-teens and even then I
had to sneak around to watch the endless compilation of live autopsies, crime
scenes and suicides. When a person is subjected to countless hours of murder
and mutilation, the senses become numb and after a while it’s hard to summon
up any empathy at all - much like the famous eyeball scene depicted in A
Clockwork Orange. There was one scene in the series however, that made me
snap back to reality and proceeded to sear itself into my mind. In this scene,
a man calls together a press conference where he then reads for a short time
before
reaching into an envelope, pulling out a gun and shooting himself in the
head.
This part in the movie halted me so suddenly because it seemed to come
from a place I could empathize with. The intensity and starkness that these
images conveyed had connected with me on a more personal and intimate level.
I remember, as I’m sure many others have done as well, that I instantly wanted
to know who this man was. I wanted to know more about what happened on the
day a group of journalists crowded around a successful politician to watch him
end his life.
It would be many years before I would come to know this man as State Treasurer
R. Budd Dwyer of Pennsylvania, and finally read his story for the first time. Now
that video is so casually splashed around the internet at every turn, it’s not hard
to find and watch this scene within five minutes of searching for it... ~continue reading
The intensity
of the footage however , and its effect on people remains the same as it was 20
years ago when it was hidden away on VHS – And such was also the case for
Honest Man filmmaker Jim Dirschberger. “…I ended up downloading the Budd
Dwyer suicide [accidentally], So when I opened it up I had no idea what I was
looking at, “says Dirschberger, “...After the video ends I just sat there with my
jaw on the floor, like ‘What the hell did I just see?” After seeing the footage, he
started to take a closer look at the story surrounding the press conference and
as more information came to light, he realized that there was a really compelling
story to be told. His film, released under the San Francisco production company
Eight Four Films, is the culmination of that initial research which has become
nearly 4 years in the making.
Abandoning the narration tactic, the film is told primarily on the basis of
interviews with Budd’s family members, peers and biographers. If the film is
lacking in any department, it definitely makes up for it by having an exceptionally
compelling cast of characters appear before the camera. Most notable are
his first campaign manager Fred McKillop - who provides some insightful
commentary on the early politician as a man, and William Smith - whose
testimony during Budd’s trial sealed his eventual conviction. Dwyer’s widow
Joanne also speaks at here at length in what would eventually become her
last public interview on her late husband before she passed away in 2009. At
times the editing cuts a little too quickly between these statements, creating an
exhausting pace to keep up with. However, they are vital to the film’s intention of
painting an accurate portrait of a man who was viewed in many different lights.
The story and events surrounding Budd Dwyer can at first seem a little dry for a
full length documentary. In a country whose current political climate creates new
scapegoats every day, his story doesn’t seem particularly shocking or unique. In
fact on the surface, the series of developments that led up to his press
conference do not relate themselves very easily to storytelling. This is much to do
with the fact that Budd was tied up in a complicated legal case which took many
years of his life and trying to keep up with all the details can be very daunting the
first time through. The case itself could serve as a commentary on many issues
that still haunt politics today, but that would be too contrived a cinematic lesson to
heap on top of everything. The film looks past all that and questions the look in
Budd’s eye as he waved his revolver in front of a crowd of stunned onlookers.
That look and its cause is the real lesson here. The meat of this story is written
between the lines and is a much more visceral issue than some grainy footage of
a public suicide. What is fascinating about this particular story is watching the
consequences of what happens when a man is utterly unequipped to deal with
his situation. Budd Dwyer lacked the tools necessary to deal with failure and
humiliation on such a scale, and as a result we become witness to his breaking
point. A man’s breaking point can be a rather variable thing and what he has had
to go through in his life can directly influence how far he can be pushed.
Throughout his life and career, Budd was constantly succeeding at every
endeavor and was well liked by everyone around him. Having never experienced
failure on any scale, Bud never learned the coping skills that are vital as a
defense mechanism and so when he fell, it was particularly hard.
Dirschberger has created an answer or the many thousands of people who view
Budd’s clip every day and are left with a pile of questions in front of them, just
as I was fifteen years ago in my living room. Budd wrote in the first line of his
final statements to the press “At long last I can speak out”. Eighty Four Films has
given him that very chance.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
Toronto based photographer Nathan Cyprys emailed to let us know about his newest series "Neighbour State", and we were about to post it when we spotted this series on his site entitled "Ayre (of Distances)" and had to post this one instead. After you view this one, view "Neighbour State" on his site. Both are visually enjoyable.
Working from found photographs, Lyle's paintings are created through a reductive painting process where each piece is rendered using only black paint and turpentine. Lyle begins this process by priming a panel with white gesso. He then paints a thin, rich, oily black veneer over the primed panel, slowly and systematically developing his images by removing some of the black paint with a cloth. In doing so, Lyle renders layer upon layer of various values of black paint resulting in his signature-style of luminescent works.
London based David Shillinglaw who's blogged it up for Fecal Face in the past recently completed this mural in London as he prepares for his solo show at Stolen Space opening on April 26th.
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Last week we brought you part one of his camera's explorations.
San Francisco based artists Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are currently showing Just the Two of Us at Adobe Books through April 21. Here are some photos from the opening and works.
Two twin brothers from Brooklyn, Skewville brought the fun to their opening at White Walls last Saturday night with their new show, Amusement. After all, you can't take a show that starts with a sign reading "Sucks either Way" too seriously. Besides the simplistic yet detailed paintings, visitors got to ride on a bike-powered merry-go-round and throw bean bags at bottles like a carnival game. Even the works made of found materials, like the Battleship boombox and the suitcase made of tin lunch pails, brought a sense of humor to the night. After seeing the work in the back of the gallery, which was much more crowded, Skewville provided a light-hearted atmosphere in which viewers could drink beer, play games, and see some really great artworks.
Brooklyn based artists Sheryo and The Yok recentely completed the mural "Pipe Dreams" in Long Island City at 5 pointz. The Yok also emailed over some photos fom a recent trip to Mexico for the Festival Anonymous held near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from this past January... Awesome, we're heading to Mexico in a couple weeks.
In the ever-expanding genres of vinyl and resin based sculptural art, there are often players behind the scenes making some of the most impressive pieces come together. Whether you hang out at ComicCon or Art Basel Miami, you've seen sculptural works that PIP (Pretty in Plastic) literally had a hand (or several) in fabricating. Here, Fecal Face interviews PIP founder, owner and fabrication mastermind Julie B., to find out more about how their work all plays out.
I live in SF. I drove across the US last summer in a 30 ft. RV from SF to Brooklyn and did portrait series called Darth Across America, every day people in every day situations, wearing a Darth Vader mask. I raised $2600 through Kickstarter along the way, that paid for gas and beer. I was travelling with 2 other photographers who also did a series of portraits. Mine drew the most attention. It was an experiment in a way, to see if I could use a pop culture icon to unite people that had nothing in common. I was right. I created a community of people across the United States that continue to follow my project, which is soon to be a book. -Julie Schuchard
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Much to offer, we've broken the posts into 3 and will be posting more in the coming days.
Our friend Nicolas Le Borgne, who's shown with us for The Diamond Sea, emailed over some pics from his current show at Spacejunk Art Centers in Lyon, France. Incredible watercolor, pen & ink or acrylic works from this talented 28 year old Frenchman.
Wowzas, there's a lot of art happenings this weekend, and while you're making the rounds, be sure to stop at SFAI's MFA show Currency opening Friday, May 17th at the beautiful old SF Mint Building (88 5th Street).
SFAI's 2013 MFA graduates—working in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, installation, digital media, performance, and across media—will present work that embraces the Institute's signature spirit of experimentation and conceptual risk-taking.
Opening reception: Friday, May 17, 7–9 pm & running through Sunday 11-6pm daily. -- complete details
London based Pedro Matos opens the solo show Building Castles Made of Sand this Friday in Los Angeles at the Martha Otero Gallery featuring a new series of oil paintings on canvas and azulejo panels - a traditional Portuguese medium of hand-painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work.
San Francisco -- CCA opens their 2013 MFA Thesis Exhibition this Thursday, May 16th at their SF campus. Every year another graduating class produces steller work. One of the best SF art events worth getting to, but be sure to get there early as there's always a long line. ~details
Our buddies at Needles & Pens celebrate their 10th anniversary on Friday, May 10th, and it's not to be missed with this steller lineup - all going down at The Luggage Store.
Check the details, mark it in the calendar, and we'll be seeing you there!
San Francisco based photographer, Michael Jang, who's been shooting for decades and who has captured some great shots over the years (Reagan and Frank Sinatra is a good one) turned his camera on his family while growing up in the suburbs in the 70s. An intimate portrait of a Chinese-American family inside their Pacifica home living their lives. Sounds benign, which it is, but what also makes the images fascinating.
The Jangs - Opening reception, Thursday, May 2, (5:30-7:30pm) Stephen Wirtz
"The Jangs" photography by Michael Jang opening Thursday
British artist Ian Francis opened up the solo show Season 1 Episode 0 last night, April 25th at NYC's Joshua Liner. We've been fans of Ian's work for years. ~show details & works.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
Toronto based photographer Nathan Cyprys emailed to let us know about his newest series "Neighbour State", and we were about to post it when we spotted this series on his site entitled "Ayre (of Distances)" and had to post this one instead. After you view this one, view "Neighbour State" on his site. Both are visually enjoyable.
Working from found photographs, Lyle's paintings are created through a reductive painting process where each piece is rendered using only black paint and turpentine. Lyle begins this process by priming a panel with white gesso. He then paints a thin, rich, oily black veneer over the primed panel, slowly and systematically developing his images by removing some of the black paint with a cloth. In doing so, Lyle renders layer upon layer of various values of black paint resulting in his signature-style of luminescent works.
London based David Shillinglaw who's blogged it up for Fecal Face in the past recently completed this mural in London as he prepares for his solo show at Stolen Space opening on April 26th.
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Last week we brought you part one of his camera's explorations.
San Francisco based artists Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are currently showing Just the Two of Us at Adobe Books through April 21. Here are some photos from the opening and works.
Two twin brothers from Brooklyn, Skewville brought the fun to their opening at White Walls last Saturday night with their new show, Amusement. After all, you can't take a show that starts with a sign reading "Sucks either Way" too seriously. Besides the simplistic yet detailed paintings, visitors got to ride on a bike-powered merry-go-round and throw bean bags at bottles like a carnival game. Even the works made of found materials, like the Battleship boombox and the suitcase made of tin lunch pails, brought a sense of humor to the night. After seeing the work in the back of the gallery, which was much more crowded, Skewville provided a light-hearted atmosphere in which viewers could drink beer, play games, and see some really great artworks.
Brooklyn based artists Sheryo and The Yok recentely completed the mural "Pipe Dreams" in Long Island City at 5 pointz. The Yok also emailed over some photos fom a recent trip to Mexico for the Festival Anonymous held near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from this past January... Awesome, we're heading to Mexico in a couple weeks.
In the ever-expanding genres of vinyl and resin based sculptural art, there are often players behind the scenes making some of the most impressive pieces come together. Whether you hang out at ComicCon or Art Basel Miami, you've seen sculptural works that PIP (Pretty in Plastic) literally had a hand (or several) in fabricating. Here, Fecal Face interviews PIP founder, owner and fabrication mastermind Julie B., to find out more about how their work all plays out.
I live in SF. I drove across the US last summer in a 30 ft. RV from SF to Brooklyn and did portrait series called Darth Across America, every day people in every day situations, wearing a Darth Vader mask. I raised $2600 through Kickstarter along the way, that paid for gas and beer. I was travelling with 2 other photographers who also did a series of portraits. Mine drew the most attention. It was an experiment in a way, to see if I could use a pop culture icon to unite people that had nothing in common. I was right. I created a community of people across the United States that continue to follow my project, which is soon to be a book. -Julie Schuchard
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Much to offer, we've broken the posts into 3 and will be posting more in the coming days.
Our friend Nicolas Le Borgne, who's shown with us for The Diamond Sea, emailed over some pics from his current show at Spacejunk Art Centers in Lyon, France. Incredible watercolor, pen & ink or acrylic works from this talented 28 year old Frenchman.
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Before the days of internet video you had to watch your snuff films on VHS
and let me tell you, they were not easy to come by. I didn’t happen upon the
1970 Faces of Death series until I was well into my mid-teens and even then I
had to sneak around to watch the endless compilation of live autopsies, crime
scenes and suicides. When a person is subjected to countless hours of murder
and mutilation, the senses become numb and after a while it’s hard to summon
up any empathy at all - much like the famous eyeball scene depicted in A
Clockwork Orange. There was one scene in the series however, that made me
snap back to reality and proceeded to sear itself into my mind. In this scene,
a man calls together a press conference where he then reads for a short time
before
The story and events surrounding Budd Dwyer can at first seem a little dry for a
full length documentary. In a country whose current political climate creates new
scapegoats every day, his story doesn’t seem particularly shocking or unique. In
fact on the surface, the series of developments that led up to his press
conference do not relate themselves very easily to storytelling. This is much to do
with the fact that Budd was tied up in a complicated legal case which took many
years of his life and trying to keep up with all the details can be very daunting the
first time through. The case itself could serve as a commentary on many issues
that still haunt politics today, but that would be too contrived a cinematic lesson to
heap on top of everything. The film looks past all that and questions the look in
Budd’s eye as he waved his revolver in front of a crowd of stunned onlookers.
That look and its cause is the real lesson here. The meat of this story is written
between the lines and is a much more visceral issue than some grainy footage of
a public suicide. What is fascinating about this particular story is watching the
consequences of what happens when a man is utterly unequipped to deal with
his situation. Budd Dwyer lacked the tools necessary to deal with failure and
humiliation on such a scale, and as a result we become witness to his breaking
point. A man’s breaking point can be a rather variable thing and what he has had
to go through in his life can directly influence how far he can be pushed.
Throughout his life and career, Budd was constantly succeeding at every
endeavor and was well liked by everyone around him. Having never experienced
failure on any scale, Bud never learned the coping skills that are vital as a
defense mechanism and so when he fell, it was particularly hard.
