Rock My Religion

Rock My Religion is a provocative thesis on the relation between religion and rock music in contemporary culture. Graham formulates a history that begins with the Shakers, an early religious community who practiced self-denial and ecstatic trance dances. With the "reeling and rocking" of religious revivals as his point of departure, Graham analyzes the emergence of rock music as religion with the teenage consumer in the isolated suburban milieu of the 1950s, locating rock's sexual and ideological context in post-World War II America. The music and philosophies of Patti Smith, who made explicit the trope that rock is religion, are his focus. This complex collage of text, film footage and performance forms a compelling theoretical essay on the ideological codes and historical contexts that inform the cultural phenomenon of rock 'n' roll music.

Country:

United States of America

Genre:

Documentary

Duration:

55 minutes

Year:

1984

Director:

Dan Graham

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Company:

Moderna Museet

Cast:
Dan Graham

Johanna Cypis

Narrator

Patti Smith

Jim Morrison

Crew:
Glenn Branca

Music

Thurston Moore

Idea

Kristin Lovejoy

Idea

Kim Gordon

Music

Kim Gordon

Idea