Interior Scroll - The Cave, 1995

1975-1995
7:30 min., color, sound

In a vast underground cave, Schneemann and seven nude women perform the ritualized actions of Interior Scroll — reading the text as each woman slowly extracts a scroll from her vagina. The scroll embodies the primacy of an extended visual line shaped as both concept and action. The extracted text merges critical theory with the body as a source of knowledge. Beatty's camera moves from the naked group actions into close-ups of the unraveling text.

Edited and Produced by Maria Beatty. Cave Participants: Lilah Friedland, Jade, Jackie Lipton, Sativa Peterson, Naomi Schechter, Carolee Schneemann. Voices: Maria Beatty, Kathy Brew, Cynthia Gaasch, Carolee Schneemann. Camera: Maria Beatty, Abigail Child, Caroline Koebel, Ethan Mass, James Schaeffer. On-Line Editor: Karen Heyson.

five figures stand nude in a dimly lit cave, each pulling a scroll out from inside of themselves

two figures stand facing one another in front of a bright white light; they are extending scrolls towards one another stemming from their crotch.