SXSW Film Review: Narcissister Organ Player
The woman (and the mother) behind the mask
By Beth Sullivan, 1:00PM, Sat. Mar. 10, 2018
At the outset of Narcissister Organ Player, performance artist (and director/subject) Narcissister proclaims she’s only been sure of two callings in life: her role as a dutiful daughter and her work as an artist.
A “hybrid performance/documentary film,” Narcissister’s first feature film examines how her knotty family history – particularly her relationship with her mother – influenced her creation of the masked persona that is Narcissister. As the film reveals, it’s as nuanced as one might think for a performance artist whose work often features her extracting masks or wigs from her southern orifices, which she then dons in a kind of backward striptease.
Indeed, the unabashed erotics and nudity of Narcissister’s performances are wholly vulnerable and perhaps unsettling. However, Narcissister’s personal recollections of her childhood and her mother’s body and childhood feel decidedly more intimate. Interweaving family photographs, audio interviews, video diaries of her mother (which were shot by her brother long before the project), and her own performances, Narcissister Organ Player positions the provocateur’s work within her family’s narrative in such a way that it not only illuminates her art but also furthers her family’s story.
For Narcissister, it seems that we carry our parents' childhoods and histories (and their parents' as well) inside of our bodies; eternal wellsprings for creativity.
Still, Narcissister Organ Player draws a line between exploring the character and exposing the real individual. Narcissister’s tattooed fingers censor or only offer half-glimpses of her face in family photographs. This tension between masked and unmasked is central to Narcissister’s modus operandi: She’s never without her masks and wigs (even wearing them during the post-premiere Q&A). Narcissister Organ Player, then, above all, is itself a Narcissister work – an enigmatic performance (and performer) that thrives in absurdity yet isn’t afraid to play with sentimentality.
Narcissister Organ Player
Festival Favorites
Monday, March 12, 11:30am, Alamo Ritz
Wednesday, March 14, 1:30pm, Alamo Ritz
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SXSW Film, SXSW Film 2018, Narcissister Organ Player