Her Royal Majesty Parts 1 & 2 (2003)
The Queen of Diamonds
Video, 3:45, 2002
The Queen of Hearts
Video, 3:45, 2002
Through the manipulation of surface, color, composition, and rhythm of sound and image, Her Royal Majesty plays with spectacles of imaginary histories and mythologies of stardom. There is something poignant (the price women pay for power), and at the same time hilarious (costumes, sets, campy acting), about Hollywood’s 1930’s movies about “historical†queens. These are the first two parts of a four-part suite. The four films in the suite are Cleopatra (1934), Queen Christina (1933), Scarlet Empress (1934), and Marie Antoinette (1938).
These videos were part of a two-channel video installation in the 2003 Pittsburgh Biennial at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
Diamonds - Excerpt (23.2 MB)