Benny Nemerofsky Ramsay

Video maker, Visual artist
male
Born
1973
in
Montreal , QC
Canada
,
Quebec CA
Lives in
Toronto; Berlin
Canada
,
CA
Biography

Videomaker, visual artist. Montreal-born, York-trained, Berlin- and Toronto-based Ramsay was named Toronto ArtFag in 2000 and his prolific output of short videos showcasing his performance as singer and groover validated the title. A rare combination of perennial festival favorite and rigorous high concept experimentalist, Ramsay’s work built on a fascination with pop music and the singing voice, as well as the mediation of musical emotion through linguistic translation and media technology, not to mention a queer indulgence in postmodern camp and transgendered voice. My favorite is Je Changerais D’Avis (2000), a cover of Françoise Hardy’s 1966 yé-yé standard, with multiple frames à la CNN, multiple language subtitles, and the surprisingly effective pathos, through all those layers of cable clutter, of the odd tear wiped away by a singer who really feels it.