“In this hand-processed assemblage of previously unearthed home-movie footage and ad hoc audio recordings, Joshua Yates resurrects an American family from the South, to haunting effect. What we hear are snippets of childhood and family life, circa 1971…just enough to disturb us as we attempt to stitch the pieces into a narrative that just won't completely render. What we see, meanwhile, is a stream of heavily eroded, orphaned small-gauge footage. Every so often from this molten play of surfaces, a human figure or legible sign manages to emerge, for just long enough to stoke our desire for more, before receding again into the decay. In 'The Bags, Probably 1971', Yates devises a gothic rumination on memory, loss, childhood innocence, the darker side of human nature…and the inadequacy of hindsight to reconstruct it all.”
—Festival of (In)appropriation

About Yates

Yates is a human being originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. His film/video work and photography have been shared internationally in film festivals, microcinemas, photo publications, and museums. He really likes Patsy Cline and malt liquor.