A photo of a naked woman has been cut out, freed of her background and is in an empty, bare space. A man appears on screen and walks through the same space. For a moment, the relationship between them is unclear: they are both in the same space, the man sees the woman. What is their relationship? Although it is obvious that the man sees the woman, it is also made clear that the woman is a product of his fantasy: he removes his T-shirt and his naked torso accentuates the nakedness of the woman. His hand reaches towards her body and now the photo seems to be just as big as his hands. He strokes the photo with his finger and cradles it in his hands. Then he puts his lips to the photo and kisses it. His body fills the screen for a moment then he walks away and the tape ends. Because the man is 'present' and the woman exists only as a representation, the perspective of the viewer is voyeuristic in relation to this man's fantasy. However the title that Pearlstein gave to this video refers to the man's fantasy of being seduced by two women. These two women are in his head and it is only the commentary, consisting of sounds and some flirtatious words spoken by two women, that makes reference to a second woman. The two women give a dream-like subtitle to the pale image in which the fantasy of this man is shown as a game between a man and a woman, between watching and being watched, between fantasy and reality, between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional world; a mocking way to play with such concepts, very characteristic of Pearlstein.
– Carla Hoekendijk |
With: Leo Marks, Alix Pearlstein
Alix Pearlstein, 1962, New York (USA)
Lives and works in New York (USA)
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