Homage to Dara Birnbaum

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Dara Birnbaum is well known for her work in video art as being one of the first video artists to employ the appropriation of television images in a subversive manner. Taking existing pop culture icons prominent at the time, she subverts these references in order to reveal the subtext behind them. Her videos often reveal the highly manipulative nature of television, especially when it comes to interpreting women and girls in the media.

For this project, I have emulated Dara Birnbaum's style of appropriating existing television clips and layering it with music and other clips. In this video, I've tried to pick up where Dara Birnbaum left off in the 90's and early 2000's. Taking clips of commercials targeted towards young girls and layering them with clips from Prince's music video 'Cream' on top of Shania Twain's song "Man, I feel like a woman" to show the double standards that women and girls face within the media.

As a little girl, advertisements influence what you want and how to act as you grow up. Showing advertisements of little girls taking care of baby dolls, baking in pseudo ovens, and planning your marriage through dolls and other toys teach girls what they should aspire to as they grow into womanhood. Contrasting these images with clips of provocative women dancing in Prince's 'Cream' music video, it also shows the opposite side of the spectrum of how women are expected to act.

Dara Birnbaum work:
1. Dara Birnbaum's 'Technology/Transformation: Wonder Woman (1978-79)' -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJhEgbz9piI
2. Birnbaum Dara Pop Pop Video 1980 General Hospital Olympic Women Speed Skating -- https://archive.org/details/BirnbaumDaraPopPopVideo1980GeneralHospitalOlympicWomenSpeedSkating
3. Remy/Grand Central Trains and Boats and Planes - http://www.vdb.org/titles/remygrand-central-trains-and-boats-and-planes
4. Pop-Pop Video Kojak/Wang by Dara Birnbaum -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7bz6-w38Eo

Sources:
1. Prince & The New Power Generation - Cream -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gET9RBKNYcM
2. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel Like A Woman (Official Music Video) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=159&v=ZJL4UGSbeFg&feature=emb_title
3. Magic Nursery Toy Commercial 1991 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3m1E-eMyUQ
4. Baby Slurp n' Burp Toys "R" Us Commercial -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6g4D5NQpzg
5. oopsie daisy commercial -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FUkpjAAZsk
6. Baby Bubbles, the doll that drools (just for you) -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=ccJ5E9BrXg8
7. 1994 My Size Bride Barbie - Doll Commercial -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-qPIlo6Iow

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