I Thought It Was You
Ryan McNamara
American, born 1979
2008
A five-minute color video with sound in which Ryan McNamara stages a lone performer in a club-like theater to dramatize misrecognition, desire, and the theatrical construction of identity.
Against crimson stage curtains and low, cinematic light a casually dressed figure tilts backward in a suspended, oddly theatrical gesture that reads as both rehearsed choreography and a private outburst.
Situated in contemporary performance video, the piece collapses nightlife, choreography, and autobiography to show how small, scripted gestures make visible longing, spectatorship, and the theater of everyday identity.
Medium
Video (color, sound)
Dimensions
5 min.
Classification
Department
Credit
Committee on Media and Performance Art Funds
Accession
1652.2009
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
