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PAUL MCCARTHY AND MIKE KELLEY: FAMILY TYRANNY (1987)
In one of his more disturbing projects, American artist Paul McCarthy collaborates with fellow artist Mike Kelley on this film depicting the relationship between a father, played by McCarthy, and his son, played by Kelley.

Writing about the film, McCarthy says: "I was given access to a community television studio for two days of shooting and one day of editing. I had been given the grant based on a proposal to do a video tape on child abuse. I taped for one day alone and one day with Mike Kelley. I asked Mike Kelley to be the son and I would be the father. There was no written script."

Writes Kelley: "Paul McCarthy is an artist familiar in the performance art world who is, finally, starting to become more visible in the general art world. I have been a fan of his work for years. I suppose you could say that Paul is an Automatist but the work is grounded not in Jungian Archetypes but rather in everyday social conventions. His version of the primal is the one found in store-bought Halloween masks and embodied in plastic dolls. This tape, Family Tyranny and another one, Cultural Soup, come from one taping session. In a public access television studio, Paul built a rough set approximating the type seen in television situation comedies. He called me in to help him out. When I asked what I was supposed to do he said, `I'm the father, and you're the son.' That was it. When I arrived at the studio the cameras were turned on and, I would guess, at least six hours of tape was shot. The two tapes that came out of the taping are just short sections of this mass of material."

Family Tyranny (Modeling and Molding)
1987, 8:08 min. color.

Writes McCarthy: "A father and son without a mother, a house on the hill.

Fatty Daddy Tyranny
Break his back
Wack wack a doo
Daddy, a roly-poly alpiner
Kissin' each other behind the door
So smack and blackened the eye
Of that little punky winker
Slap, slap a doo
Down the stairs we go
Abusive tyranny."

 
 
USER COMMENTS
I am now cold and...very, very scared...can someone...please...hold me?
Art Weeks    28-02-2009
Absolute garbage wrapped in pretension.
uncle pud    27-02-2009
most women would not bother to sit through this. What a load of pretenitous rubbish. Homo-erotic twaddle disguiesd as art.
maisielane    23-02-2009
this should be on public access on a 24 hr loop. the end to a perfect day.
Vlad Ketch    23-02-2009
A pure nightmare. I would be curious to watch the other film they did.
Nicolas Rilliet    19-02-2009
genius
rob    19-02-2009
i liked the end part,i though,wierdo,but the rest,where u been man av u even lived,if this is meant 2 shock,u need to get out an live man.
johnny    16-02-2009
This is great, like the bit about the film set.
Dog Collar    15-02-2009
this is horrible and scary! and really really performancy
Spanky    15-02-2009
      By Saatchi Online Editorial
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