Three successive tracking shots reconstruct the environment of Sanja Ivekovic's childhood. The camera films a kitchen in a sequence shot, at eye levels corresponding to three different ages. Filmed in close up, each detail takes on considerable value. In a similar manner to that of a child's gaze, the slightest element can be a source of contemplation or imagination. The framing provides an unexpected perspective of an ordinary domestic environment, an intimate microcosm. As these images progress, the whole comes to resemble a kind of pattern or motif, ranging from large squares to stripes to a plant motif. The camera movements unfold a series of abstract paintings. After a shot of an embroidered napkin representing a little girl, the last tracking shot ends on a portrait of Sanja, who thus culminates this collection of views. From the little girl, represented via a technique traditionally reserved for women, through to her adult portrait in the kitchen, we see the portrait of a woman in her traditional role. The close ups highlight the conditioning and enclosure associated with the feminine condition. To a certain extent, the work presents the blinkered vision reserved for young girls that Sanja Ivekovic criticises throughout her oeuvre, even if the video is experienced like a pictorial reverie.

Patricia Maincent