As Seen On TV

Charles Atlas in collaboration with Bill Irwin 

1988, 24:39 min, color, sound

"New vaudevillian" performance artist Bill Irwin is the subject of a wryly comic performance narrative. Framed by the storyline of a parodic theatrical audition, Irwin plays a hapless Everyman who inadvertently becomes trapped inside a television set. This narrative ploy allows Irwin and Atlas to demonstrate their respective skills at constructing an ironic and inventive forum for contemporary performance.

Put Blood in the Music

Charles Atlas 

1989, 75 min, color, sound

This unique documentary on the downtown New York music scene is a collage of music, performance and commentary in which Atlas captures the energy and pluralism that characterize this urban milieu.

The Myth of Modern Dance

Charles Atlas 

1990, 26:06 min, color, sound

Collaborating with choreographer Douglas Dunn, Atlas uses anthropological text, satirical movement, and vividly colored chroma-keyed backgrounds in an episodic, often humorous look at the evolution of modern dance.