Interluding
2004 | SD video | 22’00’’
Sharone Lifschitz and artist Martina Jenne photographed each other, simultaneously positioning themselves in front of the lens and behind it. The video consists of one single uninterrupted take, which ends when each woman had used up a roll of 35 mm film and the last photograph was shot. A meditation on the almost violent nature of taking images, the work captures the two women in their relationship to each other, to photography, and to the third static camera that filmed their actions.*
The scene is complicated by the fact that we, as viewers of the video, are watching the documentation of the documentation. Several times one of the women [...] breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at the video camera. She gives an awkward smile. At once it ruins and confirms everything: this is an expression of affection and we are privy to it, and they know we’re watching. It gives the whole endeavor a timidly exhibitionist air, as though they’re ashamed of being viewed, as though we, the viewers, are ashamed of viewing, and yet the whole process is a guilty pleasure for everyone involved—we all like it much better this way.**
* Text: Emily Bilski
** Alex Starace, reviewing the video
when it was shown at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis.
