The Foundation , 2015 Single-channel HD video, color, sound 28 minutes, 20 seconds Edition of 5 + 2 APs
Continuing the thematic signifi- cance of anachronistic gestures, formal affinities, and archival adjacencies in reframing relation- ships between artists and their chosen ancestors, The Foundation holds intergenerational and historic confluences in relation. The film takes its title from the Tom of Finland Foundation, set up by Finnish artist Touko Laaksonen (1920–91), better known as Tom of Finland, in 1984 to preserve his vast catalogue. The film combines footage shot at the Foundation in Los Angeles with choreographic sequences staged within a specially constructed set that draws on the aesthetics of experimental theatre. This allows P. Staff to introduce us to a discourse of identity formation that spans time and place and locate it in the context of historically important struggles within the queer community. Tom of Finland made a considerable impact on masculine representation in post- war gay culture, and the film becomes a portrait of this site, as a home to the archive of the artist and gay icon, as well as the community of people that care for
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