Representational Painting, 1971

Betacam numérique PAL


In this video-performance, the artist, wearing underwear, is seated in front of the camera at a three-quarter angle. She is smoking and observes her face in a mirror located in the off-screen space. She starts her performance by brushing her hair. All of her gestures are delicate, slow and precise as though they were part of a sacred, universal ritual. Each gesture has its own importance and participates in the transformation of the face. These are the gestures that all women in societies that advocate beauty have carried out for centuries; make-up and hair styling are the artifices that allow the illusion to be created.
Eleanor Antin chooses to make up her eyes first, by applying the eye shadow directly with her fingers. Her gestures are sometimes clumsy, in spite of her application to the task. For example, she manages to smudge her nose black. Her preparations alternate with long moments that she spends looking at herself, amused by these imperceptible changes. The staging amplifies the observational effect, with shots that are linked by way of cinematographic crossfades.
Eleanor Antin explores the act of putting on make-up as a traditional mode of self-expression. As a woman, she uses make-up to compose an image of herself that she uses to confront the world. Putting on make-up is one way of creating a new appearance for oneself, another self, a more confident self that conforms to social norms.
In the 1970s, the feminist movement called into question the notion of femininity and the external signs of femininity, such as cosmetics, strictly female outfits, and hairstyles. This posture has become an aesthetic concept. Make-up, the beauty accessory that Eleanor Antin uses in her video, becomes paint, which she applies to her skin. Beyond feminist questions, she is also calling into question the conventional character of paint and applying it to universal, everyday language.

Priscilia Marques