__composition in color

Composition in Color is a video installation by the artist duo Pépé Smit and Harm van den Berg. Two young girls are seen applying make up to their faces in front of a mirror, the action is shown in slow motion. The first girl is six years old, her gestures are still a bit clumsy and awkward, but she is serious and concentrated. The other girl is aged sixteen; with an eyeliner pencil she expertly draws a razor-sharp black line above her eyelashes.

The girls were filmed through the mirror using a shallow focus, so that the viewer sees them close-up lending a feeling of intimacy and by further implication a psychological involvement. At the same time, the images leave room for thought and reflection since not one word is spoken. The viewer's train of thought is guided solely by the dialogue between image and music. Using these very simple means, the film tells us something about the awareness of one's own presence and the part played in this by mirrors, in two different stages of life, raising questions about the construction of female roles and identity. The slow motion images and the music of Vincent van Warmerdam, transform a commonplace action into a concentrated, almost hypnotic, ritual.