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Heli
Rekula’s photographic works often examine the ways
in which the individual is constructed in the social
order, and how this leaves its mark on the body. Her
photographs mix the straightforwardness of the
documentary with more personal, and sometimes even
sentimental aspects. Arja Elovirta writes: "Instead
of making statements, Rekula’s works provide open
surfaces on which the artist and the viewer can both
project their fantasies, feelings and thoughts."
(Arja Elovirta, Paradise Lost, catalogue, the Het Domein
Stedelijk Museum Sittard, 1998.) Rekula does not confine herself to photography, but also works with moving images and installations. The video work Fantasy of Devotion (1998) poses a question about activeness and passivity. The woman in the film seen in tight close-up seems to be in a state of trance. Hands, presumably belonging to a man, manipulate her face, at first gently, then in a more violent way, slapping her cheek. Still, the woman does nothing, and just stares passively in front of her or closes her eyes. |
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| Courtesy: Marella Arte
Contemporanea postmedia |
Heli Rekula was born 1963 in Helsinki, Finland | Antimemory
Casino 2001 Media Connection Media Metaphor |
