Moyra Davey
Horse Opera, 2022
HD video, 72 mins
Mirrored Landscapes (Triptych), 2022
Mailed photographs
Eric (Smoke), by Moyra Davey and Barney Simon-Davey, 2014
Mailed photographs
For Phenomenon 4, Moyra Davey premiered Horse Opera, a film that follows the social and sartorial exploits of its protagonist, Elle, as she joins her friends at various legendary dance parties and concerts across contemporary New York City. Tales of collective experience in these utopic, youthful spaces are contrasted by themes of bodily surrender to age and the passage of time. When she is not staying up all night under the disco ball, Elle reveals an inner monologue thrust forward by a reading list of authors such as Hilton Als, Anne Boyer, and Elizabeth Hardwick. More than in previous Davey films, music punctuates the narrative’s cyclical progression, which is also interrupted by the need for social distancing and its ensuing alienation. The screening was followed by a conversation between Moyra Davey and Maggie Nelson. The work was then installed at the New School of Anafi as part of the exhibition, together with two triptychs of mailed photographs.