July

AUSTIN EYE + EAR MUSIC SERIES: MIRANDA JULY
HOW I LEARNED TO DRAW

Sept. 22 | 7pm | Scottish Rite Theatre

This program made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

july

This is a work-in-progress that diverges from July's recent performance work in that it is comparatively lo-fi and lo-tech. With little musical accompaniment and no interaction with video, she enacts story with many surfaces. Mundane exchange, desperate hope that borders on prayer, direct conversation with the audience, and eventually, video evidence are metabolized towards a single goal–that of proving the existence of a better parallel world that lives in the hearts of everyone in the room.

Miranda July makes performances, movies, recordings and combinations of these things. Her videos (The Amateurist, Nest of Tens, Getting Stronger Every Day) have screened internationally at sites such as MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum, and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Nest of Tens was included in the 2002 Whitney Biennial, in addition to a sound installation commissioned for the show. July's most recent multi-media performances, Love Diamond and The Swan Tool have been presented globally in spaces such as The Kitchen in New York, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in London. July has recorded several performance albums, available on the Kill Rock Stars and K record labels. July has also directed a video for the all-girl rock band Sleater Kinney, made her feature film acting debut in Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son, and provided consultation for feature films. In 1995 she founded Joanie 4 Jackie, a movie distribution network for independent women movie makers. This project has allowed women of all ages and backgrounds to exchange their movies and give each other support. July recently launched two on-going web-based collaborations, Learning to Love You More (with Harrell Fletcher) and How Will I Know Her? (with Emma Hedditch.)

For the past three years July has collaborated with DJ and sound artist Zac Love; Love has composed live and recorded soundtracks for both the movies and live performances. Today Miranda is hard at work on a feature-length movie, some short stories, a new performance and a few other similar things. She lives in Portland, Oregon.