The pursuit of the perfect body is as old as time. But who defines perfection?
The Patina-V Mannequin Factory in the City of Industry, California, has created the perfect woman: she’s tall, slender, and made of plastic. In 34x25x36, the director Jesse Epstein takes us into a world where art, craftsmanship, and commerce meet, and where contemporary standards of beauty are simultaneously reflected and defined.
Director: Jesse Epstein
Producers: Trish Dalton, Jesse Epstein
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History of science
Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful
8 minutes
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Nature and landscape
After independence, Mexico was in search of identity. These paintings offered a blueprint
15 minutes
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Art
A young Rockefeller collects art on a fateful journey to New Guinea
7 minutes
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Anthropology
Margaret Mead explains why the family was entering a brave new world in this 1959 film
29 minutes
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Art
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
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Film and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
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Sports and games
Young Palestinians find fleeting moments of freedom at a West Bank skate park
13 minutes
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History of science
Meet the Quaker pacifist who shattered British science’s highest glass ceilings
14 minutes
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Gender
A catchy tune explains the world’s ‘isms’ – according to your mum doing the laundry
5 minutes