Writes Alice Weiner: "Done To (sometimes called It Is, Done To) consists of simple camera frames which are silent and/or unconnected to a complex soundtrack running parellel to the images. There are brief instances where image and sound meet; however, the majority of the images are overtaken by at times symphonic, at times cacophonous soundtracks which displace the normal filmic viewing experience. The standard film format for going from frame to frame — and then and then and then — is what the film is concerned with.
The film begins with a silent close-up of a woman's face (Sharon Haskell). The sound track then begins: a male voice says 'AND THEN..,' followed by a female voice saying 'A TREATMENT OF THE DISSONANCES...,' 'AND THEN...' 'AN INDICTMENT OF THE DISSONANCES...' This pattern of male/female, female/male query/response switching back and forth continues throughout the film.
Kathryn Bigelow is sitting on a couch, reading a book. Haskell joins her and they begin a conversation which cannot be heard; instead the soundtracks of works become more and more dense. The voices echo and overlap, then untangle and become clear. The two women talk with someone off-screen, behind the camera. A general conversation fades in and out: for instance, one hears the question 'Did you really come to New York to make it like Trigger?' The camera angles change, but it is always the same scene—a non-descript couch in a room with Bigelow either alone or in the company of Haskall. An American calvary song is also entwined in the soundtrack.
Towards the end, the male voice says, 'It is then done to,' after which the credits are spoken. The women's conversation and the reading of the works continues, and then the credits are repeated. And then the soundtrack ends and then the picture ends. And then it is, done to."
Produced by Moved Pictures, New York City. Cinematography: Mark Obenhaus. Audio Direction: Michael Reisman. Audio Engineer: Kurt Munkacsi. (Melodic Noise: Jeffrey Lew, Mayo Thompson, Will Gillian. Voices: Kathryn Bigelow, Sharon Haskell, Lawrence Weiner.) Players: Kathryn Bigelow, Sharon Haskell. -- EAI
This title is available for exhibitions, screenings, and institutional use through Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), NY. Please visit the EAI Online Catalogue for further information about this artist and work. The EAI site offers extensive resources for curators, students, artists and educators, including: an in-depth guide to exhibiting, collecting, and preserving media art; A Kinetic History: The EAI Archives Online, a collection of essays, primary documents, and media charting EAI's 40-year history and the early years of the emergent video art scene; and expanded contextual and educational materials.