Vie Coye (Citron) (2010)

Video performance, DVD, stereo sound

Duration 30 seconds

Vie Coye (Citron) takes place in the space between still life and performance. The performance component of the work was shot over three days in HIAP’s studio on Suomenlinna. Each day, I placed myself behind a lemon still life on a table and made a small gesture, which the camera recorded. The performer’s voice and appearance change over time, but the lifeless objects stay the same throughout the month. Nevertheless, Vie Coye (Citron) blurs the boundary between the lifeless and the living, since, unlike traditional still-life painting, in Vie Coye (Citron) the artist’s body forms part of the composition. Here I use the language of video and performance to ask questions about the passage of time and transience, while, at the same time, exploring the still-life genre in painting.