In Loop

In Emmanuel Marre’s vérité film, not the filmmaker or his camcorder  dictate the mise-en-scène, but an alternating montage of Brussels-based parents styling their children’s hair with whatever they have at hand. Their direct but intimate instructions and the bathrooms, kitchens and living rooms that function as ephemeral hair salons sculpt the decor, rhythm, and imagery. 

As a powerful symbol of one’s identity and beliefs, the shoe remains a source of wonder. Vincent van Gogh, too, found inspiration in footwear. The more worn and muddy these were, the deeper their implied psychological meaning. During the 5th Havana Biennial, Francis Alÿs donned magnetic shoes and walked daily through the streets of the city, collecting the bits of metal he encountered in his path.

Now Pretend is an experimental investigation into using race as an arbitrary signifier. Drawing on language, personal memories, and the 1959 text “Black Like Me”, it deals with Lacan’s mirror stage, and the movement from object to subject.