Fucked

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Fucked , 1999
Alex McQuilkin
video work (excerpt)
Link to the video
(please note copyrights )

Fucked (German: " Gefickt ") is the title of one of the first video works by the American artist Alex McQuilkin (born 1980). In the 3:38 minute video self-portrait, a young woman tries to put on make-up , apparently during intercourse . Except for a few moments when other parts of the body become visible, the video shows her face, sometimes in close-up.

Work description

The video from 1999 shows a young woman lying on her stomach who appears to be penetrated from behind . The camera shows the face from two slightly different perspectives. Beyond that, only the left shoulder of the body can be seen, and in short shots the back and bottom with the sexual partner standing behind her. The woman, moved throughout the film as if by intercourse, begins to apply make-up cream, especially under the eyes. This is followed by brushing blush onto the cheeks and forehead. Then she makes up her eyes with eyeshadow , kohl and mascara . While using the kohl and eyeshadow, the camera switches to a close-up of the eyes. The setting also changes from the face to a close-up while the lipstick is applied . The final step is setting the make-up with powder .

Effect and interpretation

Fucked was the first work by the then 19-year-old artist to become known on a large scale. The voyeuristic aftertaste is reinforced by the deliberately seemingly amateurish realization of the video in the style of private porn. Alex McQuilkin: “The main thing for me was to take away the intimacy of an intimate situation. The girl I play is not involved in the act, only concerned with her appearance. "

As is characteristic of the artist's work, the video is carefully staged: the copulation shown is posed, the penetrating man fantasized by the viewer is portrayed by a friend of the artist. The video work takes up elements of feminist art and the cultural criticism and pop culture of the 1990s, comparing it with works by artists such as Valie Export , Carolee Schneemann and Sue de Beer as well as Paul McCarthy . The video, staged and calculated with media awareness, is the beginning of a successful early work consisting of installations, collages, prints of video stills and photographic works.

Fucked was produced in an edition of nine DVDs in 1999, when Alex McQuilkin was still studying at New York University, and was presented and sold in full at the Armory Show - The International Fair of New Art in New York City in 2002 . The video was one of the most discussed works at the art fair .

Exhibitions

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b Ute Thon: Girl art - really bad! In: art - the art magazine . No. 1 . Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg 2005, p. 44-49 .
  2. ↑ a b Ana Finel Honigman: Overwhelming Life. Artnet Magazine.