Introduced by Maria Troy Challenging the dominant cultural texts of our timemarks off one area of activity for The Chicago 15. Blumenthal's Doublecross(1985, 8 mins) takes on sexual difference via Hollywood films like The Women, anaskance trial starring Yvonne Rainer, and slices of pornography. Resisting whatshe calls "'his' culture," Blumenthal displaces male desire withlesbian attraction. In Chained Reactions (1982, 9:55 mins), Latham and Tamblynoffer up the clichés of the gothic romance, always hinting at somehaunting resolution but never delivering. Lacy costumes, absurd associations, anda whisper-riddled soundtrack build to suspense that isn't there. Gilliam'sSapphire and the Slave Girl (1995, 18 mins, premiere) trumps the problematicrepresentation of race, spinning off of a late '50s British film, Sapphire, inwhich a woman who had been passing for white is found murdered. Gilliam heightensthe instability of identity through changing textual strategies and references.Zando investigates sadomasochism by restaging the Story of O in her all-femaletale Uh-Oh! (1994, 38 mins). Sexual and spiritual submission emerge as therestrained expression of ecstasy.-Steve Seid Artist MariaTroy works with the Chicago-based Video Data Bank.