The story of disco, gay and black liberation run in close parallel. It created a sub-culture that introduced major innovations in the way music is envisioned and heard. It was the DJ who introduced it and came of age at this time: he was the god to his dance floor. Larry Levan is one of the most beloved DJs in the history of dance music and he held court at the legendary Paradise Garage. He was the ultimate DJ: he reinvented the concept of the DJ, blurring the boundaries of music, race, sex, sexuality, and changing thousands of people's perception of music and sound.
For this project, I created masks of Larry’s face for male and female performers to wear. The participants were filmed and photographed during 2 nights in the Bronx. Transformation and fantasy are the driving theme behind this project; dancer and DJ become one as they danced to his remixes.
In 2016, as part of the exhibit "The Beat Goes On" (2016) curated by Derrick Adams, I created a listening room as a homage to legendary DJ Larry Levan, the late “musical shaman” of the Paradise Garage disco in New York City. Renowned for fusing different genres of music together and garnering a diverse audience, Levan’s sessions were dubbed “Saturday Mass,” a name that reflects the importance of club going as a weekly ritual. The room recalls the church-like and spiritual experience of Levan’s events, with a dimly lit atmosphere, DJ setup, photographic works, sculptural masks, disco ball, checkered dance floor and video projection. We invited 3 DJs (April Hunt, Michael Paul Britto and sOlnOva) and visitors were encouraged to stay and dance in keeping with Levan’s spirit of inclusivity, community and a space of sanctuary. The photographs, videos and masks of the Larry Levan projert were created in 2006 and this listening room is a new iteration of the project.
(installation photos: Bridet Badore and Stan Narten)