A Life

Vito Acconci, Joan Jonas, Chris Burden… Frank Cole? Yes, with this movie Cole emerges as a performance artist extraordinaire. His body, like theirs, is a machine for producing pictures. A Life is Cole’s nearly wordless performance for the camera, with Cole back-and-forthing between a horizon-less Sahara and a room that contains only a desk and a bed. Figure and ground mash-up in a duet that sends his grandfather’s ashes scattered across a continent to create a newly emptied world. The long road of grieving brings him a burning car, a new tattoo and a long snake duet.