Exploring Fakir Musafar with Angelo Madsen and Ron Athey

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“A multilayered perspective on artist Fakir Musafar’s life to creatively excavate his role as a pioneer of extreme body modification.”—Hyperallergic
“Part alt-cultural timeline, part essay on communal support, the film is an open-minded portrait of an iconoclast that serves to illuminate entire communities, while also noting the audacity of Fakir's borrowings. It's almost too much to digest in one viewing...a visceral impact.”—Screen Slate
A BODY TO LIVE IN, the new feature-film by Angelo Madsen, is an uncompromising, no-holds-barred look at the agonies and ecstasies of the controversial artist Fakir Musafar (1930–2018), the infamous icon of BDSM performance art, body modification, and the ‘modern primitives’ cultural movement. Join filmmaker and performance artist in conversation with ONE Archives curatorial assistant in a night that explores the life and work of this legendary photographer, performer, and gender flex cultural icon. Selections from the film will be interspersed with conversation that uncovers a riveting story of queer, artistic, and cultural history through the exploration of Fakir’s art practice and philosophy. Featuring never-before-seen archival images and interviews in 16mm film from A BODY TO LIVE IN, join us for a night that foregrounds intergenerational dialog, questions cultural responsibility, and provokes larger ideas about the drive to transcend the limits of the body.

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Presented by USC Visions and Voices. Organized by Quetzal Arévalo (ONE Archives at the USC Libraries), Luka Fisher (Curatorial Studies), and Alexis Bard Johnson (ONE Archives at the USC Libraries).

Related Event:

A Body To Live In
Director’s Workshop and Exhibition Tour
Friday, February 27, 2026, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
ONE Archives at the USC Libraries
For more info, click .

Event Venue

Tommy's Place, 3601 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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