The Stewarts are a fictional family who behave like life-sized marionettes dressed completely in white. The various family members appear and disappear in the abstract, empty white room. They are manipulated by an entourage of production assistants, a make-up artist and a hairstylist, who act like puppeteers dressed in black, constantly adjusting the family's appearance, moving them to particular spots in the space and tidying them up for their performance.
Then the puppeteers/assistants fasten balloons to the family and place cardboard party hats on their heads. All of this takes place in a calm atmosphere and in complete silence, and all participants faces are stripped of their discernible expression.
Music by Liz Harris / Grouper
Courtesy Musée d'Ixelles, Brussels and Private Collections