Jollies

Sadie Benning

1990 · Single-channel digital video, transferred from Pixelvision tape, black-and-white, sound, 11 min. · Photographs

Benning began making videos as a teenager in Milwaukee when her father, experimental filmmaker James Benning, gave her a Fisher-Price PXL-2000 (Pixelvision) camera for Christmas. In early works such as Jollies, she embraces toy camera’s grainy lo-fi aesthetic, talking directly to the camera with disarming intimacy. The video chronicles her first crushes and kisses, tracing her awakening to queer identity with a captivating mix of vulnerability and insouciance.

Artist

Sadie Benning

Date

1990

Medium

Single-channel digital video, transferred from Pixelvision tape, black-and-white, sound, 11 min.

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2022