Gregg Bordowitz

A gay jewish man speaks out about living with and dying from AIDS. He also discusses how being gay has affected his identity as a jew and his relationship with his parents.

The film examines the case of artist and professor Steve Kurtz, a member of the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). The work of Kurtz and other CAE members dealt with genetically modified food and other issues of science and public policy. After his wife, Hope, died of heart failure, paramedics arrived and became suspicious when they noticed petri dishes and other scientific equipment related to Kurtz's art in his home. They summoned the FBI, who detained Kurtz within hours on suspicion of bioterrorism.

"Gregg Bordowitz's 2017 performance lecture "Only Idiots Smile" features the artist on a stool in the New Museum's top-floor sky room, riffing on the formation of his identity. At one point, he explains his 'Jewish identity is the template thru which I understand all my other identities… how to appear to others, how we’d like to seem to others,' how others might frame themselves to be seen by us. In this way, Bordowitz gestures at what seems to be the most legible piece of this exhibition, templates for framing — each artist explores variations on the frame through presentation, history, fantasy, sculptural construction, and material." — Rindon Johnson