Peggy and Fred in Hell

Stills from Leslie Thornton's ongoing film cycle Peggy and Fred in Hell. Two kids navigate a post-apocalyptic future littered with AV equipment, glowing lightbulbs, and junk. Thornton has described Peggy and Fred as being "raised by television," and there's something about this description that recalls the official origin story for hypnagogic pop. The first part of the film appeared in 1984, which would make these kids basically my contemporaries -- I think I even occasionally rocked a blazer like that when I was little(!) Watch a clip of the first part of the cycle here. There's a fantastic piece about the film by Ed Halter in this month's Artforum.