Alix's work was comprised of video art from the years 2000-2007. She liked to use simple backgrounds like open white or black spaces to focus on the action. In her words she likes to explore the concept of films stripped of context and locations. Her first pieces had handheld cameras that would surround the actors and were obviously shaking and unsteady. Most of her films had voice-overs of loud voices or sounds (ex: grunting, moaning, footsteps, etc) instead of normal dialogue.
The first film short we watched was called "Two Women"and focused on the illusion of a magazine cut-out of a naked woman being fondled by a shirtless, skinny man. There were commands being said by Alix's voice-over and stock sounds and the man followed the instructions of the voices. The camera, as I mentioned beore, was obviously handheld and gave you an uncomfortable and uneasy feeling.
Another theme portrayed in Alix's films is the destruction of the hierarchy and the destruction of family. The hierarchy was disassembled in "Forsaken" where the son is this authority figure who gets waited upon and whose portrait is hung up on display.
Eventually the mother is the one you brings him off his high horse and then he is brutally attacked and left on the ground with the mother's cackling laughter ringing in the ears of the audience.
In general, I found Alix's work a little over my head. I loved her concepts and when I heard her explain her intent, it all made sense to me. But I personally prefer a more conventional take to these concepts and her work just wasn't for me. Her intent was good and I think may have appealed to certain audiences perfectly, but it didn't appeal to me personally.
Photos for this post were taken from Alix Pearlstein's website. http://www.alixpearlstein.com/
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