By pure accident or dumb luck I happened on this intriguing documentary about whimsical but serious New York raised-Denver based visual artist Suzanne Heintz. When asked in a class to do a project based on a personal myth, Suzanne began the "The Playing House Project: Life Once Removed." A combination of photography, comedy, and performance art, Suzanne initiated a project that explores and challenges her own personal myth and International social issue of the stereotyping of women.
Tired of being asked, "Are you married yet?" and feeling pressure imposed by the Ozzie and Harriet generation (once removed) that a woman's life only has worth when she takes on the role of wife and mother, Suzanne began photographing an imagined life with mannequin husband Chauncey, and mannequin daughter, Mary Margaret, who remained eight years old throughout the project.
What began as a fun, satirical holiday card to her friends, developed into a twenty-year art project that eventually went viral. The photoshoots started as personal portraits and eventually became performance art. With the help of her supportive boyfriend, Suzanne shot in locations as diverse as in front of Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, in a field of Sunflowers, and even in a hospital bed the day after brain surgery to remove cancer. She had to: it was time for her annual holiday card and the project had rooted itself in her life.
"As a girl growing up in the age of the Equal Right's Amendment and the Women's Lib Movement, I never imagined that I would have any limitations on what I could grow up to be. I imagined Gloria Steinam had that all taken care of. Now you're suppossed to have a career and a family, so they just added to the list of responsibilities rather than making it about choice."
An astute art designer, Suzanne choose her palatte from the 1950s and 60s. "I choose each color, fabric, prop to work silently for me. The clothing - beautiful, uncomfortable, and thoroughly ridiculous, designed to suggest how, for centuries, we have been shoe-horning ourselves to fit into the definition of Woman."
Imagining Life explores the life and work of a fascinating creative mind. Once Suzanne Heintz focused on the insidious issue of how people prop themselves up to portray that perfect family shot - regardless of reality or desire to live that pre-supposed life - she rode it through until it felt finished.
I love this film.