Following on the 2020 U.S. Presidential election on Nov. 3, a film connected to Orange Coast College’s Frank M. Doyle Arts Pavilion’s newest online project, “ALMOST PRESIDENTIAL,” looks at vice presidents and failed presidential candidates, investigating names forgotten to history or reduced to one-liners and supporting roles outside the spotlight. “ALMOST PRESIDENTIAL – THE FILM” is one element of the online project that debuted on Sept. 19 and runs until Dec. 16, 2020. Available for viewing here.
“ALMOST PRESIDENTIAL—THE FILM” is a 50-minute feature film oriented around a Zoom presentation from Oct. 1, and presents new work by six artists who examine the American political landscape from an unfamiliar angle. Featuring sculpture, drawing, photography, installation, and video by Pio Abad, Deborah Aschheim, Matthew Brannon, and Cintia Segovia, and exhibition curators Marisa J. Futernick and Rebecca Sittler, “ALMOST PRESIDENTIAL—THE FILM” highlights artists whose previous bodies of work have challenged the visual and rhetorical representations of former presidents and their legacies.
“Though our national histories are often written with the victors in mind, failed candidates have a substantial impact on intangible ideas surrounding ‘electability’ and how we visualize presidential power,” says Doyle Arts Pavilion Director Tyler Stallings. “They also have the potential to expand the political imagination of the electorate while shaping the platforms and strategies of future candidates and political movements.”
Presenting a timely exploration of political rhetoric, failure, and gendered dynamics within political systems in the U.S. and beyond, including Mexico and the Philippines, these six artists combine fiction and historical fact into an active survey of political material, text, and image.
Elements of the online project included an online exhibition on The Doyle’s website, a public Zoom panel discussion, and a special project film, along with highlighting selected artists each month in Fall newsletters from The Doyle.
Online programming will be featured at The Doyle for 2020-2021 while Orange Coast College’s campus continues with remote learning in support of efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19. For additional information, visit The Doyle website.
Rebecca Sittler, “Supporters, from Fritz: Fragments from an Imagined Presidential Museum for Walter F. Mondale,” 2019, archival pigment print, courtesy of the artist.
Marisa J. Futernick, “Hillary,” from the installation “Concession,” 2020, archival pigment print, courtesy of the artist.