{"id":16254,"date":"2015-07-13T16:48:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T20:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/?page_id=16254"},"modified":"2015-07-13T16:52:44","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T20:52:44","slug":"16254-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/?page_id=16254","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

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Monday July 20, 7:30pm<\/span>
\nReality Bites<\/strong> <\/span>
\nScreening and Conversation with artist Eileen Maxson<\/strong> <\/span>
\nfree,\u00a0rsvp recommended\u00a0to rsvp@microscopegallery.com<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/h1>\n

\"Reality
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Microscope invites you to join us for a viewing of the 1994 movie\u00a0Reality Bites<\/em>\u00a0on\u00a0VHS in connection with\u00a0I was really gonna be something by the age of twenty-three<\/em><\/span><\/a>, a solo exhibition of\u00a0works by Eileen Maxson inspired by and referencing the film.\u00a0Maxson will be available for a post-screening conversation about the exhibition, the movie,\u00a0and the role it plays in her latest works.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two descriptions of the movie follow: the official one printed on the VHS cover, the other by Eileen Maxson as spoken in her video Unwrapping “Reality Bites” on VHS<\/em>\u00a0(2015), on view as part of her exhibition.<\/span><\/p>\n

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From the Official VHS:<\/span><\/p>\n

Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke and Ben Stiller (directing his first feature film) star in this wildly funny romantic comedy that looks at life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment through the eyes of a generation sandwiched somewhere between\u00a0The Brady Brunch<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Melrose Place<\/em>! <\/span><\/p>\n

As her college valedictorian, Lelaina Pierce (Ryder) should be destined for greatness. In reality, she’s a lowly production assistant for an obnoxious TV morning show host (John Mahoney). In her free time, Lelaina’s making a biting, often outrageous video documentary about her peers: promiscuous, ’70s-crazed roommate Vickie (Janeane Garofalo), sexually repressed pal Sammy (Steve Zahn), and best friend Troy (Ethan Hawke), a brilliant but unmotivated rebel. <\/span><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lelaina meets Michael (Stiller), an ambitious video executive who wants to showcase her documentary on “In Your Face TV”. Suddenly, she finds herself at the center of a very odd love triangle with dependable, fast-track Michael on the one side and a sexy, brooding Troy on the other. <\/span><\/p>\n

Whether cruising to\u00a0Tempted<\/em>\u00a0by Squeeze or rocking to The Knack’s\u00a0My Sharona<\/em>,\u00a0Ryder and friends shine in this hilarious romance that’s pure entertainment. (Rolling Stones Magazine) <\/span><\/p>\n

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\nFrom Eileen Maxson’s\u00a0Unwrapping “Reality Bites” on VHS:<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

“THIS IS A COPY OF \u201cREALITY BITES\u201d ON VHS<\/span><\/p>\n

A COMEDY ABOUT LOVE IN THE \u201990s<\/span><\/p>\n

REALITY BITES IS A MOVIE STARRING WINONA RYDER, ETHAN HAWKE AND BEN STILLER.<\/span><\/p>\n

BEN STILLER ALSO DIRECTS.<\/span><\/p>\n

JANEANE GAROFALO AND STEVE ZAHN ARE IN THE MOVIE TOO\u2026BUT THEY\u2019RE NOT ON THE COVER<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cREALITY BITES\u201d IS ABOUT LELAINA A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER AND RECENT UNIVERSITY VALEDICTORIAN SORTING OUT HER LIFE AND WORK.<\/span><\/p>\n

ROMANTICALLY, SHE\u2019S INVOLVED WITH THE TWO GUYS ON THE COVER: TROY AND MICHAEL<\/span><\/p>\n

TROY IS A GREASY, MOODY, UNEMPLOYED DUDE THAT PLAYS IN BANDS AND QUIT SCHOOL ONE CREDIT SHORT OF A DEGREE IN PHILOSOPHY.<\/span><\/p>\n

MICHAEL IS A FANCY VIDEO EXECUTIVE AT A FAKE VERSION OF MTV CALLED \u201cIN YOUR FACE TV\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TROY READS BOOKS LIKE \u201cBEING IN TIME\u201d IN THE MOVIE.<\/span><\/p>\n

MICHAEL DOESN\u2019T READ BUT HE DOES HAVE A CELLULAR PHONE IN 1994.<\/span><\/p>\n

THE CLIMAX OF THE MOVIE IS WHEN LELAINA PURPOSEFULLY LOSES HER JOB AT A MORNING TV SHOW AND HAS A LOT OF TROUBLE FINDING A NEW ONE<\/span><\/p>\n

SHE BECOMES PRETTY DESPERATE.<\/span><\/p>\n

UNTIL MICHAEL CALLS WITH NEWS THAT \u201cIN YOUR FACE WANTS\u201d TO BUY AND BROADCAST THE DOCUMENTARY SHE\u2019S MAKING ABOUT HER FRIENDS <\/span><\/p>\n

BUT WHEN THE CHANNEL RE-EDITS HER WORK INTO COMMERCIAL GARBAGE, SHE REGRETS THIS CHOICE.<\/span><\/p>\n

SAMMY AND VICKY ARE HER FRIENDS AND DOCUMENTARY SUBJECTS<\/span><\/p>\n

SAMMY IS GAY AND CELIBATE. HE COMES OUT TO HIS FAMILY.<\/span><\/p>\n

VICKY IS STRAIGHT AND PROMISCUOUS. SHE GETS TESTED FOR HIV AT A FREE CLINIC. SHE ALSO WORKS AT THE GAP.<\/span><\/p>\n

NOW THIS TAPE IS REALLY COOL, BUT WHAT\u2019S EVEN MORE COOL ABOUT IT IS\u2026AS YOU CAN SEE\u2026IT STILL HAS THE PASTIC SHRINK WRAP.<\/span><\/p>\n

SO THIS TAPE THAT WAS MADE IN 1995 HAS NEVER BEEN OPENED BEFORE.<\/span><\/p>\n

AN UNOPENED VHS COPY OF REALITY BITES IS PROBABLY WORTH ABOUT TWENTY-ONE DOLLARS.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUT I DON\u2019T CARE<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019M GONNA OPEN THIS MOVIE.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019M GONNA UNWRAP REALITY BITES AND I\u2019M GONNA WATCH IT<\/span><\/p>\n

REALITY BITES.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026(UNWRAPPING)\u2026\u2026\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

AND THERE WE HAVE IT, AN UNWRAPPED COPY OF \u201cREALITY BITES\u201d ON VHS”<\/span>
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\nMore info about the exhibition currently on view can be found HERE<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span>
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\n\"Unwrap_s\"
\nUnwrapping “Reality Bites” on VHS<\/em>,\u00a0by Eileen Maxson, 2015, color, sound, 10 minutes 25 seconds<\/span>
\ncourtesy of the artist and Microscope Gallery<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday July 20, 7:30pm Reality Bites Screening and Conversation with artist Eileen Maxson free,\u00a0rsvp recommended\u00a0to rsvp@microscopegallery.com Microscope invites you to join us for a viewing of the 1994 movie\u00a0Reality Bites\u00a0on\u00a0VHS in connection with\u00a0I was really gonna be something by the age of twenty-three, a solo exhibition of\u00a0works by Eileen Maxson inspired by and referencing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mc_calendar":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16254","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16254"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16264,"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16254\/revisions\/16264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.microscopegallery.com\/archive\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}