Rae Spoon

A true Canadian iconoclast, acclaimed transgender country/electro-pop artist Rae Spoon revisits the stretches of rural Alberta that once constituted “home” and confronts memories of growing up queer in an abusive, evangelical household.

An experimental animation with original sound exploring “how identity development is informed (and sometimes controlled) by psychiatry’s relationship with capitalism and its broader political objectives.” The video focuses on three themes: the history of psychiatry and its relationship to capitalism/consumerism in North America, the MKULTRA experiments in Montreal during the Cold War, and how the self-help movement depoliticized leftist movements after 1960s.The video combines MacCormack’s own research inspired by the work of British documentarian Alan Curtis, whose The Century of the Self (2002, 240 minutes) is one of many texts and influences apparent in this sweeping work.

This animation uses watercolor paintings of child-morphed creatures, poppies and dismembered legs, based on collaged photos from my animation ‘Nothing ever happened’, to produce a commentary on loss. Set to the song ‘Love is a Hunter’ by Rae Spoon reminds us that love can be transformative, but sometimes the intensity of this transformation can be threatening. The surreal imagery reflects a childhood where love is very much defined by one’s ability to hide from violence and pain.

A music video for Rae Spoon about the violence transgender and genderqueer people face in their daily lives, and how mutual support gets us through.

A non-linear rumination of catching oneself between the headlights of cowardice and conviction. Subtly confrontational for those who can never seem to stay, nor fully walk away, featuring music by Rae Spoon.