September 12 - October 6, 2024
INSTALLATION | ARCHIVE | MULTIMEDIA
An immersive video installation and experimental documentary piece about the Newport Navy Sex Scandal of 1919
September 12 - October 6, 2024
INSTALLATION | ARCHIVE | MULTIMEDIA
An immersive video installation and experimental documentary piece about the Newport Navy Sex Scandal of 1919
An IGNITE Series PVD+ Project
Conceived and Created by Jason Tranchida and Matthew Lawrence
Scandalous Conduct: A Fairy Extravaganza
A Multi-channel Documentary Musical
September 12 - October 6, 2024, 12pm-4pm
Opening Reception: September 14, 2pm-4pm
Artists Talk: September 21, 7:30pm
Created by Providence-based artist duo Jason Tranchida and Matthew Lawrence, co-curators of Headmaster, Scandalous Conduct: A Fairy Extravaganza is a multi-channel musical documentary reconstructing the Newport Navy Sex Scandal of 1919. This experimental video installation unravels themes of homophobia and surveillance, pairing primary historical documents and archival photography with recreated excerpts from Jack and the Beanstalk, an elaborate and lively Vaudeville production staged by the Navy in the spring of 1919.
In 1919, fifteen Navy sailors were arrested in Newport, RI for “Scandalous Conduct.” On view through October 6 at the Great Friends Meeting House, artists Matthew Lawrence and Jason Tranchida delve into the history with their musical film.
Review by Marcus Civin
A new musical documentary features transcriptions of the Navy’s 1919 investigation into homosexual activity by sailors in Newport, along with music from a vaudeville drag show that was going on right down the street.
Jason Tranchida and Matthew Lawrence’s collaborative practice is project-based and interdisciplinary. Together they curate the queer art magazine Headmaster. As the journal’s editors, they craft assignments for artists and publish the resulting projects. The list of Headmaster’s nearly 100 contributors includes Wolfgang Tillmans, Liz Collins, Nicholas Galanin, Alexander Chee, Derrick Woods-Morrow and Slava Mogutin. Headmaster No. 9 launched in 2021 and examined the theme of collaboration. (headmastermagazine.com) Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the duo has curated and produced multiple performative events including After School Special, a night of performance and interactive sculptural work at RISD Museum; AV Club, a looping video program screened in a gay video bar as part of a citywide arts festival; and Headmaster Meets the Dean, a participatory event in a hotel suite featuring readings, music, and a photography installation. Together and separately, they have participated on panels and talks about topics including independent publishing, queer art, and masculinity as part of programs at RISD Museum, Boston Art Book Fair, and the IvyQ conferences at both Brown and Yale Universities. They have recently been awarded grants from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Brown Arts Institute, and Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Tranchida and Lawrence are currently in the development phase of the project SCANDALOUS CONDUCT: A FAIRY EXTRAVAGANZA, which will culminate in a multi-channel video installation exploring the 1919 Newport Navy Sex Scandal.
Photo by Nelson VillarrealMatthew Lawrence
Matthew Lawrence (he/they) is an archivist, writer, and public programmer based in Providence, Rhode Island. From 2015-2020 he wrote 262 weekly issues of Law and Order Party, a curated newsletter highlighting cultural events in Rhode Island. In 2022 he received a Master of Information Studies degree at McGill University. He has talked about conducting historical research at national archivist conferences in both the United States and Canada. Lawrence is the 2015 recipient of the Public Humanities Scholar Award from Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. In 2019, his hybrid fiction/video essay was part of the Webby-nominated digital catalog Raid the Icebox Now with Nicole Eisenman: Tonight we are going out and we are all getting hammered, which accompanied Eisenman’s exhibition at the RISD Museum. He was a 2021 finalist for the Rabkin Foundation Prize for Visual Art Journalism. Most recently, for the academic journal Archivaria, he reviewed the retrospective of the art collective General Idea at the National Gallery of Canada.
Photo by Nelson VillarrealJason Tranchida
Jason Tranchida‘s creative practice is a multidisciplinary intersection of art, design, and curatorial projects. Born in Detroit and living in Providence, Rhode Island, his project-based art practice includes objects, installations, video, and digital explorations. His creative agency LLAMAproduct specializes in graphic and exhibit design, creative direction, and event production. His work draws heavily on his foundation in architecture and stage design. As creative director of Headmaster, Tranchida has received two Print Merit Awards from the Society of Publication Designers. A consummate multitasker, Tranchida is also in the early research phase of a new project focused on Eugen Sandow, a Victorian showman, entrepreneur, and the founder of modern bodybuilding. Tranchida is a graduate of University of Michigan and Pratt Institute.
Brown Arts’ IGNITE Series uplifts the spirit of artistic collaboration across Brown, Providence, the Rhode Island region, and beyond. Ignite your creative curiosity through this multi-year series of programs, activations, interventions, and investigations.
