Page 1 — thgeorge.com

Theresa George (*1984) is a film anthropologist based in Hamburg. From 2005 to 2013, she studied cultural anthropology, journalism and political science in Leipzig. Since then, she has co-developed films and videos in changing constellations, works for film festivals, curates her own programmes and teaches visual anthropology.

SPLITTER (2023)

Co-direction

A young woman is seen in close-up against a dark background. Her attention is focused on something off-screen; her concentrated gaze suggests a space that we cannot perceive. Surrounded by high-pitched, increasingly shrill sounds, her inquiring expression slowly gives way to a proud stance, alters to determination, and ultimately turns into a withdrawn vulnerability. But then, she becomes active: by using a mirror, she creates reflections and disturbances to the image, addressing it toward the viewer. As she retreats, the bass increases into a dense sound. She dissolves her own image while fading into yellow light, and her disappearance becomes, for us, a physical experience.

When she reappears shortly afterward, she seems to have risen from the baroque pictorial worlds of a Caravaggio or an Artemisia Gentileschi; rich light-dark contrasts lie on her tense face. She appears exhausted but straightens up again, aware of a context invisible to us. Is she exhibiting herself, or is she exposed to our gaze? Is her disappearance a camouflage or a game?

This ambivalence, which also addresses questions of power and powerlessness, lies at the heart of SPLITTER. The protagonist cannot be pinned down to a single role: she is simultaneously the object of a foreign gaze and the cause of its disturbance.

(Ferrial Nadja Karrasch, full text here )

One-channel video installation by Leyla Yenirce
Full-HD, colour, sound, 3:45 min

Schiefe Zähne, gallery weekend Berlin (solo exhibition)
inclusion in the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, inclusion in the archive for time-based media art of the IMAI Foundation