noizemagazine - Index

noizemagazine - noiZe Magazine Issue 57 August 2008 - Index

bian named Mary Louise Fuller,
later dubbed “Loie.” Her techniques
involving the manipulation
of huge pieces of silk—sometimes
as large as 100 yards—and bouncing
kaleidoscopic imagery off it with
her groundbreaking invention of
the electric film projector singlehandedly
revolutionized theater and
dance.
Today the flaggers that are smacking
you in the head with their weighted
strips of tie-dyed silk have been
around at least as long as the first
Circuit-type parties, which began in
the early 1970s on Fire Island and
in downtown Manhattan and San
Francisco. But it really came into its
own at the New York gay megaclub
the Saint in the 1980s.
Flaggers are a secretive lot. Like
Freemasons, they maintain an entire
set of unwritten laws, traditions, and
hierarchies. San Francisco bows
to Xavier Caylor; New York City to
George Jagatic; Eric Mitchell rules
in Palm Springs; Rodger Belk in
Long Beach; Derek Fowler in San
Diego; and yours truly in Louisville.
Philip Bryan caused quite an upset
within the flagging community when
he blew open the doors to Flagdom
via his website. The secrets of making
flags have long been guarded
as a sacred gift handed down from
flagger to flagger.
Bryan's website, www.flaggercentral.com,
details everything and anything you ever
wanted to know about making flags, as
well as a flagging forum. His open-book
policy raised something of a ruckus within
this closed community.
Flaggers met in Dallas to compare notes, have fun—and flag, flag, flag.
Some flaggers who are especially
handy with a sewing machine, such as
Philadelphia's Larry Reigel, have offered
their flags for sale. But generally, it's
considered bad form to sell flags; rather,
they're passed along or traded or given
as gifts.
47
Healthy Am I! Happy Am I! holy Am I!
FLAGGING WEEkEND IN DALLAS
This Independence Day Weekend
marked the Fifth Annual Flagger’s
Conference, organized by an elevenman
committee plus dozens of volunteers.
“This year’s conference brought
more than 70 participants from all over
the United States and Canada,” according
to Bryan, who also organized and
choreographed the troupe of flaggers
that opened the 2006 Gay Games in
Chicago. Bryan has also performed with
Kristine W and led crews of flaggers
at events including White Party Palm
Springs and San Francisco’s Folsom
Street Fair.