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Veils on Veils, 2020
Three videos each 5076 x 1080, no sound
roughly 30 sec each
Veils on Veils resembles a shampoo commercial yet one in which a woman (the artist) appears to be advertising headscarves made to approximate hairstyles. An assemblage of clips shows the artist striking poses against the wind. She animates the scarf with her hands and the movement of her head, similar to stereotypical feminine hand gestures. This work utilises the Broadway screen as a billboard, playfully blurring the line between art and advertising.
Veils on Veils draws on the legacy of drag to perform a type of cultural cross-dressing. Taking aim at the Western/Muslim woman binary, it questions the notion of there being an original, ideal or authoritative version of either. The headpieces in Veils on Veils may appear to be concealing hair, a Muslim veil, or both, when in fact each layer is revealing aspects of the layer underneath. In this way we might view the hairstyle as a veil unto itself, one that simultaneously conceals and reveals.
A short interview about the work:
Acknowledgements
Concept and Performance: Cigdem Aydemir
Song: “Like a Prayer” (Madonna/Leonard)
Cinematographer: Brad Smith
1st AC: Juliet Young
Lighting Gaffer: Richard Mason
Assistant: Rebekah Hawkey
Editors: Cigdem Aydemir and Velinda Wardell