Not only is it an intensive archival work, there is something innovative or pioneering to its formal approach to relating a fictional story-and a nonfiction history-without relying on voice-over. In general, such meta-projects tend to be long and lugubrious, but Ask Any Buddy clocks in at a brisk, provocative, humorous, informative and yes, graphically sexy 77 minutes. More recently, Ask Any Buddy is also the name of en epic feature film by Purchell that combines dozens of gay porn movies from the late ‘60s through mid ’80s into one grand narrative. Online it’s the name of a popular Instagram account where devoted archivist Evan Purchell shares promotional materials for vintage gay pornography, conveying historical information through the visual hook of alluring imagery. But there’s another element at play, one that foregrounds non-monogamy-the value of sexuality as a facet of friendship, and vice versa.Īsk Any Buddy the project has two forms. On its surface, it brings up the idea of acquiring knowledge or answers through communication with friends.
As titles go, Ask Any Buddy is evocative.
