Dermal Mollusk
2020
Video
Dermal Mollusk researches the possible similarities of the human body with seashells. Shells are often used as symbols of the human being in its entirety, unifying the body and the soul. This integration of inside and outside in the symbolism of the seashell, made me consider how our bodies are constantly open through our pores and orifices, just like a Mollusk which is a vulnerable being, carrying its interior in constant contact to its exterior. In this video, the human body and the shell merge into each other by using a strong macro-perspective, continually shifting focus and cutting between human orifices and the inside of the shell. Placing them on an equal level and playing with the similarities, the hierarchy between man and nature is questioned. The wetness and textures of the different orifices in close-up create a strong intimate reference as if we are witnessing someone examining their own bodies’ utmost intimacies. In subtitling runs an associative text I wrote on humans and nature being constructed from the same cells, on the level of microscopic life; having skins as surface and divider. These skins are entryways towards what is beyond and inside of it, inviting the outside to come in contact with our inside, inviting the other to come in contact with the self. The audio was made by slowing down and pitch-bending a recording of the inside of the shell, giving it an eerie and mysterious tone. By bringing the sound from the inside of the shell to the outside to our ears into the video I refer again to the continuous exchange between bodies.
Dermal Mollusk
VIDEO. 04:20