Commissioned by VideoGram International, Ltd., for a videodisc of music by Jimi Hendrix, Fire! uses the stylized visuals and pacing of a music video to critique the representational economies of sexuality and consumerism. Translating the psychedelic fervor of the Hendrix song into a contemporary visual vernacular, Birnbaum similarly recasts the lyrics' meaning. A young woman is the "protagonist" of a fragmented narrative in which Birnbaum re-frames images of American consumerism and commodities — fast food, cars, the exchange of money. Birnbaum calls attention to the woman's relation to the advertising image: she is consumed as she is consuming.
Dara Birnbaum
Director
The Corporation76%
Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition86%
20th Century Women73%
The Unforgivable74%
McQueen75%
Elemental75%
The Trials of Cate McCall63%
In the Realms of the Unreal71%
Firestarter62%
Stop Making Sense83%
Firebreather73%
180° South72%
Evil Influencer: The Jodi Hildebrandt Story62%
Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me85%
Heatwave62%
Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers68%
Pink Floyd: The Wall79%
The Money Pit65%
Barbie69%
The Class of ‘9271%
