Pfeifer substitutes human models for their inanimate counterparts and in so doing initiates a deceptive dialogue with the viewer. By forcing introjection - through the manicured realism of the figure - she creates an indelible instrument of communication. Temped by the human-likeness of her subjects and yet reminded of their indifference, by the unconcealed joints of the arms, we empathise but know that it's useless.

Pfeifer's conspicuous treatment of the female figure as an object is both ironical and recalcitrant. She hails the seduction of womanhood as a necessary and complex condition. Her subjects' breasts are innocent, fecund and inviolable. "What's interesting in the use of the mannequin in Fassbinder´s film [The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant] is their nakedness, which gives them power ". Each of the mise-en-scenes in Pfeifer's "Dummy" series is based on female outsider personalities in society. Marginal figures like Anita Berber, "society whores", who are both desired and pitied. Paradoxically, by re-situating the mannequin in rural landscapes Pfeifer creates intimate windows through which to engage the narrative.