Marion Scemama

Filmed in 1983 in New York at Pier 34, this film takes place at an abandoned storehouse which was left at the mercy of the elements and open to anonymous homosexual encounters and to having its walls covered with gigantic frescos by underground artists. This place breathed transgression, desire, danger.

Political artist, painter, writer, performer and photographer David Wojnarowicz was one of the leading personalities of the 1980s New York art scene. In an interview conducted in 1989 by cultural theorist Sylvère Lotringer, Wojnarowicz speaks candidly about intimate moments in his life, the creative process, sexuality, AIDS, and coming to terms with one’s own death - at a time when society categorically refused to face up to the AIDS epidemic.

In the summer of 1989 Marion, David and François Pain took a camera with them to the Adirondacks lakes region of New York State. Passing it from hand to hand they captured a video diary of a vacation spent together in freedom, creativity, love and melancholy. "Every day, the group filmed each other, experimenting with spontaneous, intimate moments. The camera moves between them, emotions are exchanged along with it. More than just documentation, the film reveals the way they looked at each other, created together, and made space for one another —friendship and collaboration as a tender, furious act of witnessing. David Wojnarowicz had known since 1988 that he had AIDS. In Summer 89, Marion’s eye is that of a friend, imbuing David’s gestures with memory of the love and friendship they shared." ~ Christina Demetriou

The series of five videos Collaborative Film Collection made in collaboration with Marion Scemama in 1989 is emblematic of Wojnarowicz's artistic practice, it unfolds through performance, films, photographs, texts and paintings. Taking a highly subjective point of departure he shares poetic and moving moments, moving through the material until his voice achieves a universal dimension.