This post was submitted by Topher Burns

Is watching a TV show on a television set any different from watching it on your laptop?  It’s the same program, same basic setup, but after an eye-opening experience watching Charlie Demos’ queer screen project THE DAGGER I’d say that the mere fact of consuming video on a computer as opposed to a television alters how you view it, and changes your experience.

Charlie Demos is a persistent SOB, and has been diligently reminding TNG to review THE DAGGER for the better part of a month. Though I have deep appreciation for this type of confidence and commitment, I wasn’t able to squeeze in watching the program and writing a review immediately. OK, that’s the line I used to say, “Hm, not so sure this is what I want to be spending my time on.”  The reasons I had reservations about THE DAGGER were all in the description: “experimental queer programming on MNN late-night.”

MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network) is a association of four New York public access channels, and in keeping with public access’s reputation, sometimes the stuff on it can get pretty gritty. One evening I kept flipping back and forth from the sadly formulaic crime procedural I was watching to an MNN channel, which for an entire two hours showed videos taken from a variety of nightclubs exclusively featuring African American women shaking their asses.  Another evening I sat transfixed by a home-shot murder mystery in which a middle-aged gentleman with some sort of mental handicap acted out every one of the characters – it was unsettling and utterly entrancing.

So, despite Demos’ regular reminders, I did not tune in to the first episode of THE DAGGER. Nonetheless, the idea kept squirming in my head. So when Demos sent along the link to his first episode on vimeo, I gave it a peek.

THE DAGGER: Episode One from Mathew Heggem on Vimeo.

Admittedly, artistic programming like this is not really my thing – I’m sure our own Troy Chatterton would have much more to say about the type of mood evoked in this first episode and may even appreciate some of the artistic references and choices that I’m sure flew over my uncultured cranium. Nonetheless, as I watched Demos’ carefully crafted visual poetry it struck me how different it would be to watch on television.

In the context of channel surfing, if I were to arrive on MNN and see the deliberately scratchy visuals and hear the looped audio of ragged breaths in the setting of much-maligned public access programming, my first reaction would probably be to flee to the Food Network to see if the Iron Chefs were battling with an interesting ingredient.  Online, though, the clean presentation of vimeo formatting combined with web content’s reputation for excellence in amateurism prepared me to give THE DAGGER honest consideration.

Will I be on the couch next week with popcorn bowl in hand eagerly awaiting the first glimpse of THE DAGGER’s next installment? No.  But I have plenty of friends who I think would really enjoy experiencing Demos’ compositions, and I’ll be sending them the link rather than the air time/date. Being on TV definitely can provide legitimacy for renegade artists like Charlie Demos, but I think they’ll find their true audience online, and in far greater numbers.

Episode 2 of THE DAGGER airs next week Thursday the 22^nd at 1am on MNN2 (channel 56) in the New York metro area.

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