PM Magazine/Acid Rock

Directed by Dara Birnbaum

Appropriating material from the introduction to the nightly television show, PM Magazine and a commercial for Wang Computers, Birnbaum uses enlarged still-frames from each of the sources to compound a new image of the indelible American Dream. To the soundtrack of an acid rock version of The Doors' L.A. Woman, repetitive images of an ice skater, baton twirler, cheerleader, and young girls licking ice cream, exemplify dominant cultural images of women — images that emphasize their performative nature: the idea that woman is a spectacle arranged for the (male) viewer's pleasure. The culimination of a series of works from 1978-82 dealing directly with television imagery and ideology, this tape is one of four channels shown simmultaneously in Birnbaum's installation at Documenta 9, in 1982.