Bahari Foster Mabin
Profile
New Zealand-born appropriation artist Bahari Foster-Mabin is best known for her 'Film History' series, for which she subtitles classic films with the causes of death of each actor and actress who enters a scene. These provocative works are as much about the way we view film and popular culture as they are about death and aging. 'Timeless' films such as Casablanca, Enter the Dragon and Ghostbusters suddenly become macabre reminders of our own mortality. The fictitious characters being acted out on the screen become blurry in their new context - bringing about a heightened significance in each gesture and statement. This is especially true of Foster-Mabin's tragic and unsettling 'Cancer' series, which features movies whose leading characters were about to be diagnosed with the disease. The word "cancer" remains on the screen during the entire length of the films. Through this simple touch of 'realism', viewers are denied the opportunity to enter the fictional world of moving pictures.
