Emily Breer: Classics Exposed

Like a couple of kids pawing through a costume trunk, filmmaker Emily Breer and performance artist Joe Gibbons delight in trying on the attitudes and artifacts of culture. High culture and low —everything is fair game as far as these witty creatures of surreal collision are concerned. Breer's breezy, off-hand declaration, "I'm a postmodern superhero—watch me deconstruct!" perfectly captures the playful spoofing of academia and the anarchic spontaneity found in both artists' work...

These comic pieces seem as off-the-cuff as improvisations, but their humor is built on a critique of celebrity and machismo. The pathos of those nerds who fantasize about their unsung influence carries through into Moby Richard, which pokes fun at such icons of authority as the museum and the university. Gibbons's rants may be funniest to those who've mastered the pseudo-art of lit-crit, but his loony passion will win over even those who made it through English 101 on Cliff's Notes alone.