Alex Bag video

http://bfathesis.blogspot.com/2009/09/untitled-fall-95-by-alex-bag.html#comment-form

This video is odd and fascinating. At first I really had my doubts, the Bag character seemed annoying and mentally vacant, but the longer I watched the more I began to understand what she was going for. Watching Bag evolve, in appearance and in personality, is an interesting experience, more so as a satire of an art student. Many of her “complaints” and observations about art school I have actually heard from many of my peers. In some ways, Bag depicts the art school experience realistically in terms of the problems and frustrations, but in other ways she makes these frustrations seem trivial and pretentious, performing as a caricature. Physically, her “look” changes from a vapid quasi-Valley Girl, to an overly self-expressive exhibitionist freshman art student, to faux-intellectual sexy librarian, and eventually to a cynical Bob Fosse character look-alike. By the end, though, even this fictional character does seem to learn and grow and develop some sense of personal identity.

The in-between segments puppet segments are neither here nor there. I didn’t find them particularly funny, unless you view them as a parody of some of the typically “crappy” video projects you sometimes see in art school, in which case, I’ve seen my share. The pompous visiting artist sketch reminds me of my first day in Video class, watching “Four” by Yoko Ono and thinking “this is really stupid”. Sometimes, no matter how provocative the intentions, some art is just not interesting, and seeing the inside of a purse for a year is one of those pieces.

The Bjork segment is absolutely hysterical. The ridiculousness of Bjork’s attempt to explain the workings of the television based on explanations from an Icelandic poet and a Danish book, coupled with Alex Bag’s dumbfounded facial reactions, are simply comedic gold.

Overall, I enjoyed it. It was a quirky, yet insightful piece.

My question is, where did she get all these wigs??