Sad Disco Fantasia

“Living in Los Angeles is like being on vacation, or in a coma. I don’t really like it, but it’s so pleasant I don’t want to leave. I’ve only had one idea since I’ve been here and that was to video a cake in the rain in MacArthur Park. But it’s only rained once, briefly in the night, and I was asleep, and dreaming of snow.” —Steve Reinke

“Sad Disco Fantasia is Reinke’s episodic tour through the void of L.A., slips of pop culture, and Reinke’s own astringent self-regard. Despite the blasts of dry wit and the hopeful embrace of gay porn, this is a lament. What grounds the tape like a bass line is Reinke’s response to the death of his mother. What stops it cold is his tossed-off remark that this is ‘my last, my final video.’” —Cameron Bailey, “iMAGES: Reinke’s Final Cut,” NOW Toronto 20:32 (12-18 April 2001)