DAFNA TAL

The presentation of self, usually in an attempt of creating a certain impression, is inevitably hiding essential parts of our traits, thoughts and feelings. These essential parts, which influence our behavior, often remain hidden, not only from others but also from our own consciousness.

 

The project You’re Gorgeous, You’re Mad is a process of discovery: Revealing people’s subconscious inner reflections, the reactions they provoke and the contradictions they form in each individual. By doing so I wished to create a more complex and whole image of one’s self-perception, bringing to life the repressed concepts and examining their impact on one’s emotions and behaviors. 

 

I created this work during an Artist Residency program in Virginia, with a group of international artists. I started by inviting them to participate in a series of vocal confessions revealing how each individual perceives herself or himself, as well as how others perceive them. The sessions were recorded on audio and divided into two parts, one focusing on what each participant perceived as their strengths, and the other as their weaknesses. During these sessions, the voices of the participants were recorded, and subsequently edited into two short audio compositions.

 

Several days later, the participants were invited to a dark isolated space where they observed their own reflections in a two-way mirror. They heard their earlier confessions through a loudspeaker, which transformed their internal, secret thoughts into prominent “public” judgments. The Audio was divided into two segments: first, continuous declarations of their strengths, and later of their weaknesses. As they listened to their own voice and thoughts, I filmed their physical reactions from the other side of the mirror, forming two videos corresponding to the prior audio tracks recorded. The final work contains two video segments presented side by side, creating a dialogue between the participants' perceptions of their virtues (on the right side of the video) and their faults (on the left). One of the images is flipped, illustrating the difference between how the participants see themselves in the mirror and how they appear to an outer eye.

 

Thus the final work not only reveals one’s secret thoughts and believes regarding to who he or she is, but also presents an inner dialogue between two contradicting aspects of each individuals’ self-perception. The statements and judgments of the participants are a sample for some of the most common line-of-thought of our society, regarding to what makes someone worthy or unworthy of appreciation and acceptance.

 

The project was produced during the residency Experimental Film Virginia, in Cape Charles, Virginia, USA and includes participants from various countries. It was filmed in 2018, and edited in 2019. 

​

Participants: Alex Forge, Cat Kneip, Chingi Chang Bigelow, Christina Ricucci, Eldar Baruch, Emmanuel Malette, Erin Romero, JP Stanley, Lucia Moretti, Marsell Chavarria, Nicole Lorah, Sonia Li, Wesley Swing.