LEE PLEASANCE

“I”, 2008
MOVIE DURATION: 6 Mins. 16 Secs.

IF DISPLACEMENT WITHIN LANGUAGE CAN BE APPLIED TO OBJECTS THERE SEEMS TO BE NO APPARENT REASON THAT THIS CANOT BE APPLIED TO IDENTITY. A WHITE MASK HAS BEEN USED TO SYMBOLISE THE LACK OR ABSENCE OF LANGUAGE WITHIN THIS CHARACTER’S EXISTENCE. IT IS UNABLE TO NAME OR IDENTIFY ITSELF. HOWEVER, THIS SHORT FILM STARTS FROM THE PLAIN WHITE MASK AND DEVELOPS THROUGH TO THE MASK BEING COVERED WITH GROTESQUE FACIAL FEATURES THAT ARE SHOWING THE BUILD UP OF THE HUMAN LANGUAGE. AS THIS CHARACTER ACQUIRES LANGUAGE, THUS FEEDING THE EGO SOME FORM OF SENSE OF DESIRE, IT CAN BEGIN TO GIVE ITSELF AN IDENTITY, SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A NOSE.
THE CHARACTER AT THIS POINT LOOKS VERY GROTESQUE COMPARED TO THAT OF THE UTOPIAN VIEW ON THE SELF-IMAGE THAT IS PRESENTED TO THE WORLD IN MAGAZINES TODAY. THE SIMPLE ANSWER TO THIS IS THAT THIS CHARACTER DOES NOT YET HAVE A LANGUAGE THAT IS DEVELOPED ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND SUCH A COMPLEX UTOPIAN VIEW.