Pretty Little Things
2007
Synopsis:
Long ago, before a transformable doll had been designed, I remember playing with my dolls and often taking liberties to alter their appearance – cutting or changing their hair color, or performing operations on their plastic body parts. My brother and I once conspired gleefully to set Barbie’s head on fire.
This video was created in honor of our scheme to somehow humble these, beyond perfect, role models. The piece also evolved into something unexpected, beyond the theme of little girls and modern culture’s affect on body image. As synthetic hair crinkles and curls in the heat, noses melt away, and flames spark, to begin a total mutation. The transformation of the burning heads becomes mesmerizing. We watch as cutie-pies change to beautiful kaleidoscopic patterns of color to eventual smoke and ashes, leading to the concurrent theme of circular time traveling through youth, age, decay and rebirth.
Digital Video: Color/Audio/DVD - TRT 03:28:21
Credits:
Alette Simmons-Jiménez: Concept and creation, camera, direction, sound, editor, producer.
Screenings:
2020-21 Luminous, Arts Warehouse, Curators:C3 Collective, Delray Beach, FL
2014 Performa Experimenta, Shamballa Gallery, cur: Janet Slom, Ft Lauderdale, FL
2011 Museum of Art Ft Lauderdale, Amid the Street Noise, Video Festival, Ft Lauderdale, FL
2009 O Cinema, Monitoring Art, Callix Gustav Gallery, curator: Vivian Marthell, Miami, FL
2008 Cervantes Institute Optica Paris 08, in junction with Nuit Blanche, Paris, France
2007 Optica International Video Art Festival 07, Independent Artists, Gijon, Spain
2007 Artformz Alternative, Capture, Burn & Blow-Up, Miami, FL
Awards:
2007 Young Jury Award: Xuráu Mozu Prize, Optica International Video Art Festival, Gijon, Spain