All Day and a Night

2005, 12 min, color, sound

In All Day and a Night, Pearlstein explores relationships among psychology, ritual and religion. This piece was filmed within an installation by Simon Foreman. An interior white cube bathed in intense bright light is viewed through a square window from an adjacent area. A 70's kitsch picture ambiguously depicting Christ hangs discretely on the back wall of the ancillary space. Foreman's piece suggests a consideration of the relationship between Christianity and modernism. All Day and a Night takes that into account and more broadly considers the relationship between psychology, the search for alternative consciousness, ritual and religion. A group of four people are seen in the interior of the site. Through the window, one acts as a guide while the others appear to be engaged in a therapeutic or psychological experiment. When an additional character enters, the situation segues into what seems like a spiritual initiation rite or ceremony. His departure instigates yet another kind of shift, calling into question the nature of the preceding activities.

Director/Editor: Alix Pearlstein. Actors: Christen Clifford, Rosi Hayes, Clifford Owens, Steven Rattazzi, Michael Stumm, James Urbaniak. Camera: Jay King, Alix Pearlstein. Installation: Simon Foreman. Filmed at Parsons the New School for Design.