You are not cruel (2023)

A sadomasochistic story about a dysfunctional, possibly abusive relationship.

As the story progresses the images of the sterile, cold everyday relationship and their sex life start to blend together and become more and more hectic. This is intercut with shots of the woman in two different roles - her praying and crying glossy tears dressed as the Virgin Mary and her dancing aggressively in the middle of a bright empty space. As the video reaches its climax - dishes start to break, the man becomes increasingly violent against his partner, the woman reaches a point of breaking as well. There is a shift in power - in every reality the woman gains the upper hand. In the mundane dinner scene the man collapses, in their sex scene the woman symbolically kills her partner while he is in bed underneath her (this might be shown by her drawing on his chest with red lipstick evoking the visual of stabbing). In the dance sequence she becomes completely covered with blood, while in the Virgin Mary part she suddenly is smiling. This whole story is intercut with the narrator’s appearance. He will be a ‘'biblical angel’’, a cold and uncaring presence. I am working together with an artist in Riga to create a visual aid to show him as a creepy sort of divine being - we are creating a painting that would be used to blend together with the artist’s face to give him the appearance of a biblical angel - that of a being that doesn’t look fully human, has strange feathers and many eyes. This also would call together with the Holy Mary imagery.

Keywords: religious symbols in art | sadomasohhism | sex | death | violent relationships in family | View all »