Getting the facts straight about Wojnarowicz's 'A Fire in My Belly'

The art work at the center of the current Smithsonian Institution controversy -- David Wojnarowicz's "A Fire in My Belly" -- is perhaps the most talked about, argued about and blogged about piece of art of the past year. Not bad for a film that's a mere 13 minutes long (in one of its versions) and more than 20 years old.

But amid the heated debate over whether the Smithsonian was right to remove "Fire" from an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, a lot of the facts about the artwork have become clouded, obscured and even misconstrued by the public and various reports.

Two experts who have intimate knowledge of "Fire" -- Marvin Taylor and Brent Phillips at New York University's Fales Library & Special Collections -- have compiled a list of inaccuracies and misconceptions about the film. (A recent article in the Wall Street Journal features an interview with the archivists.) The fact sheet, which was compiled with the help of Tom Rauffenbart, who is the executor of the Wojnarowicz estate, contains eight points of clarification about "Fire."

Phillips and the PPOW Gallery in New York, which represents the late artist, sent Culture Monster the latest version of the fact sheet, which you can read it in its entirety  below. The gallery said it will be holding an exhibition starting March 4 called "Spirituality" of work by Wojnarowicz that will show "A Fire in My Belly" (in its original uncompleted version) and related works that will clarify the time frame of the film, when Wojnarowicz was diagnosed with AIDS and how this work and subsequent works by Wojnarowicz explore AIDS and religion, including Catholicism.

In the rush of reporting on the National Portrait Gallery’s removal of David Wojnarowicz’s film A Fire in My Belly several inaccuracies have been reported and reprinted/posted.

 Below are some corrections to those errors based on the primary source material held in the David Wojnarowicz Papers at Fales Library, New York University.

1. A Fire in My Belly was originally shot on Super8mm film and did not have a completed soundtrack. It is not a “video.”

2. A Fire in My Belly was never completed by Wojnarowicz. A text panel at the end of the film reads: “Film In Progress, David Wojnarowicz, 1986-7.”

3. The incomplete A Fire in My Belly runs 13 minutes. Had it been completed it would have run longer. We have a cutting script Wojnarowicz was working from, thus we know that there are sections not included in this segment.

4. A Fire in My Belly was not created as an homage to Peter Hujar. In fact, it is questionable if it was created as a response to AIDS. It predates Wojnarowicz’s finding out that he was HIV positive and the change in his work that reflects his status.

5. An additional section/chapter/excerpt from A Fire in My Belly was located on another film reel in Wojnarowicz’s collection. It runs 7 minutes. These sections are listed in the cutting script under the section heading “Prostitution.”. This section was used by Wojnarowicz and Rosa von Praunheim in von Praunheim’s film Silence = Death, 1989. We have a super8 film roll that Wojnarowicz titled that reads “Peter, etc…. Mexico, etc.” and contains the name “Michael Lupetin” written in pencil and has Wojnarowicz’s  phone number “228-7024 NYC”—all written in Wojnarowicz’s hand. Lupetin was the producer of Silence=Death. Based on the edge code, the film stock is dated 1986-7.

6. A 4-minute edit of this 7-minute excerpt was used in the Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery with an added soundtrack derived from an audiocassette from Wojnarowicz’s Papers of a June 1989 ACT-UP demonstration. This added soundtrack was not part of the artist’s original work and/or vision and probably has led people to think that A Fire in My Belly was about the AIDS crisis. The addition of this soundtrack was approved by the Wojnarowicz estate.

7. The Youtube version of FIMB with music from Plague Mass by Diamanda Galas was loaded by Semiotext(e). This version originally appeared in Rosa von Praunheim’s film Silence = Death, 1989. The master footage for this version with the Galas soundtrack is not in the David Wojnarowicz Papers at the Fales Library nor is there any indication that Wojnarowicz created this version. It is debatable whether the piece included in von Praunhiem's film could be called A Fire in My Belly. The most we can accurately say is that the footage was removed by Wojnarowicz from A Fire in My Belly and given to Michael Lupetin for use in Silence=Death.

8. We do not know why Wojnarowicz never completed A Fire in My Belly.

RELATED:

Complete Smithsonian coverage

Group protests art censorship at Smithsonian chief's speech in L.A.

Critic's notebook: Smithsonian chief digging a deeper hole

-- David Ng

 Photo: "A Fire in My Belly" at the New Museum in New York. Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images

Comments

[Paul Scott]

It is about time a clear fact sheet be printed. I have been turned off by Diamanda Galas' (bold) attempts to capitalize on the controversy. As recently as last week she interviewed for "Out" online and said she would do David the favor of not suing his people for the unauthorized use of her music. Galas' issuing false statements to the press is an issue that has not been discussed enough.

[henry]

And where is the equivalent coverage of MOCA's censorship? How about some equivalent documentation from the hand of Deitch, etc.

[j mendocino]

The comments above are from the Fales Library. They are NOT
David Wojnarowicz.
If Diamanda Galas finds out that definitively the video has nothing
to do with the Epidemic, she will probably be very angry at all
the people who insisted that she was the collaborator of the work
in the first place.
She has given very few interviews,and never knew the video existed,
but was afraid that EMI would sue over this, not her. If you know EMI,
you would understand better.

[pat s]

This comment above is incorrect. The first comment is correct.

It was Diamanda Galas who insisted that she was a collaborator on the film. It was only when she was repeatedly ignored that she retracted and changed her story. She has never stated who the mystery people are who "insisted" she was a collaborator. Galas immediately began writing articles and sending them to press as soon as the film was pulled and has used this conflict to try and draw attention to her early music work.

It is Galas' own website whose front page has been and continues to claim she is strongly tied to the film. In fact, it appears to have been entirely redesigned to focus on FIMB, which she has no connection to other than an unauthorized mashup on Youtube.

It is likely Diamanda Galas Productions who will be sued for manipulating the controversy and disseminating false information. Whether she illegally authorized her music to be put over the Praunheim segment is still up for debate. If this is the case you will be hearing more about it.

[Don Q]

#4 and #6
If it is "questionable if it (the film) was created as a response to AIDS" then what was the Wojnarowicz estate thinking in allowing an ACT-UP demonstration to be used as a soundtrack? For that matter, why would any soundtrack have been allowed to be added after the artist's death? Further why was an edited version of an unfinished film shown in the first place, why not the whole 13 minutes. The knowledgeable curators were out on a limb with both these decisions.

#4 and #5
If it is "questionable if it (the film) was created as a response to AIDS" why would Wojnarowicz have allowed a portion of it to be included in "Silence = Death," a film about AIDS. The argument that because Wojnarowicz did not know HE was HIV-positive when the film was shot neglects the fact that AIDS was a full-blown crisis by 1986, a situation of which Wojnarowicz was well aware.

The people trying to set the record straight may need to rethink their own handling of Wojnarowicz's works and legacy.

[j mendocino]

Pat and Paul are the same person. I contacted Diamanda Galas
and she informed me that "oh dear, my stalker is back." Michelle Walsh,
aka Kalliope Amorphous, who destroyed the Washington City Paper,
writing under 14 names, tried to destroy Diane Pernet's site, but Diane knew better, so her comment was deleted, and OUT magazine, who will not publish
her comments.
Michelle Walsh aka Kalliope Amorphous has dedicated her
career to spreading falsehoods about Diamanda Galas, among which "Galas
is a homophobe," an exlover of Kalliope, and you name it. She is currently
being investigated, but seems not to realize that every letter she writes
is being tracked to the same address.
She is not a good researcher because the lawyer and the journalist who
beseeched Galas to write the piece she wrote have been often mentioned,
since they, like Donahue and the Catholic League, only saw the youtube
version, and believed that this was the original work.

[Paul Scott]

I'm not quite sure what this is all about. I don't know about the other commentator, but I am not a female or a (stalker?) of Diamanda Galas.

[delmore palian]

Paul Scott doesn't know what any of this is about and yet
he insists he knows that Galas team " has been issuing false statements to the
press.."
Who are you, Paul Scott?
You clearly know more than anyone since we are all SHOCKED to
learn the FIMB has nothing to do with AIDS.
Perhaps instead of whining to this space you should let Diamanda Galas'
people know that her music was used under false pretenses as well
as her support. Galas has been composing music dealing with the AIDS
crisis since 1984 and her team does not rely on other artists for support.
You are flippant about something you are ignorant about.

[Paul Scott]

To clarify- I did not know what the mention to an ex lover or stalking is about. Further (and lastly) on my original comment-
If you are involved in a collaboration, you are aware of it and therefore I find many of the statements contradictory (our collaboration, our film et al). As the other commentator noted, albeit a bit harshly, the display on her website is at the very least highly contradictory. Finally, personal attacking (twice) by the Diamanda Galas (team?)seems not aboveboard .

[correction]

CORRECTION:
The truthh is revealed.
Diamanda Galas has announced testimony on her facebook page from Marion Scemema, collaborator of David Wojnarowicz that FIMB was made for Galases Plague Mass requiem.
Now screening on Diamanda Galases official spanish site in full screen:
http://diamandagalas.com.mx
Buy plague mass the original cd with the track LAW OF THE PLAGUE used in the film FIRE IN MY BELLY at
www.diamandagalas.com

[Justin E.]

I sincerely refuse to believe Diamanda has a "dangerous stalker" and that all negative comments 'come from the same person'. I know of many people that were very disappointed with Diamanda's merciless attacks that she posted in several places. And to those who 'were a witness'.... some followed blindly of course, and many others left, feeling betrayed and hurt. It's so funny, every time a negative comment comes up, they always blame it on one person, like this is the only person ever hurt or angered by Diamanda. So any of you guys who want to leave a nasty comment, go ahead, don't worry, it'll all get blamed on her alleged 'psycho-stalker'