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From the Files of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge

Tom Rubnitz

1983 00:06:11 United StatesEnglishColorMono4:3Video
Tags:
City, Dance, Documentation, History, LGBTQ, Music, Performance

Description

From The Files of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge is a series of video clips taken at the Pyramid Club, a seminal location for the East Village drag scene in the midst of the club's most influential years. While rummaging through a file cabinet full of event fliers from the Pyramid Club, an office worker in drag guides the viewer through video documentation of past performances at the club. Scenes attest to the club's variety of programming, and include introductions by MCs, a Friday night dance party, a lip-synced aria by Dagmar Onassis, the musical crucifixion of “Japanese Jesus", and stage shows featuring East Village drag personalities.

Credited performers include: John Kelly, Ann Craig, Betti Ben Wa, Samon, Bunny Manhattan, Loretta & Affrika, Dagmar Onassis, Ethyl Eichelberger, Chino Indio, Joey Burt Jimmy, Philip & Marlene, Tanya Ransom Group, Pool Dance Company, Calvin Blvd, Trey Speegle, Bobby Bradley Robert, Larry Ree, Alan Mace.

About Tom Rubnitz

A quintessential New York underground film/video artist, the late Tom Rubnitz took a bite out of the Big Apple and spat it out in a wild kaleidoscope of unequivocal camp and hallucinogenic color. Ann Magnuson, the B-52s, The “Lady” Bunny, and the late John Sex are but a few of the stars that shine oh-so-brightly in Rubnitz’s glittering oeuvre. A genre artist par excellence, Rubnitz treated the sexy-druggy-wiggy-luscious-desserty qualities of the ’80s downtown club scene with the loving care only a true hedonist could show.  Rubnitz died from an AIDS-related illness in 1992.

Video Data Bank also holds Tom Rubnitz's papers (covering 1966-1992). This collection documents Rubnitz’s career, artistic development and personal life. The collection spans Rubnitz's life from childhood through his final works before his death, offering researchers unique documentation of both his personal journey and professional relationships within the New York, San Francisco and international art scene. The Tom Rubnitz Papers Finding Aid is available to researchers. Please contact VDB to make an onsite appointment.