Berenice Cortes

Intimacy

Intimacy was a project which focused on the cultural critique of our society. In video format I explored
human contact utilizing video surveillance just as the act of touching another individual. I gained my inspiration
from Stomping in the Studio by Vito Acconci, JenniCam, Marina Abramović and Ulay. I recreatead their
performances and in this manner I was able to gain an insight to the approach of their performances.

For Acconci's take I used my own DSLR to capture video of me "stomping" up and down stairs in the art building.
I took three different perspectives, and used three different stomping techniques. The goal was to capture the
different sounds generated, but after putting the clips togther I omitted the sound as an accident and left it as is.
The recreation of JenniCam was different in that I set myself in a vulnerable postition as I filmed myself on a daily
routine. In this case the fear of judgment was increased, but in this sense I was able to experience surveillance and
a different perspective on what privacy means. With the modern era anything is, but private.
Lastly, I took inpiratin from Marina Abramović and Ulay performances on consentual touching and interaction between
two individuals. In this performance I asked my partner if it was okay to film a performance where the goal was for
him to restrain and keep is eyes shut, while I would,usig force, open them. It was an interesting experience in that
it felt wrong to force an action on to someone who is clearly restraining.