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This is the beginning of a new phase of work for Dara Birnbaum. Replacing the conventions of television with the conventions of a different form of art and communication translated to TV, 'Damnation of Faust: Evocation' is the prologue to five sections of the new work. Using state-of-the-art technology, Birnbaum paints a new 'Faust' for the 1980's. Matching the means of contemporary expression available in video/television to the formal devices of 19th century Japanese Ukiyo-e art, the tale is retold - the conflict between the inner self and external surroundings. Birnbaum's revision heightens the duality of the Faustian dilemma through a merger of the character of Faust - domination - and Margarete - receptiveness - into one (female) form. The visual motifs chosen by Birnbaum seem to invite us to seek out what lies beyond their barriers - and this is the very duality that the 'Evocation' is meant to draw out.
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