The video sequences show close-up shots of the mouth engaging in activities such as biting lips and fingernails, chewing apart gummy worms, and smacking green bubble gum. The mouth and tongue provoke simultaneously lust and disgust. At the same time that the mouth is visible to the public it is also a location of intimacy at the border between the interior and exterior of the body. Activities of the mouth such as chewing, licking and consuming nourishment are subject to rules and regulations and are often in conflict with social expectations and norms. Digitally exaggerated, the viewer's attention focuses on the mouth and its habits (biting, licking, sucking, digesting) as a place where the external and internal meet, both physically and metaphorically. The moth reflects a place where struggle over lust/desire and self-control become visible.
The mouth is in constant motion expressing anxiety and tension.
The clean white edge of the tooth is digging into the flesh violently trying
to grab the surface layer of skin from the interior of the mouth. Repetitively,
the teeth tear off little pieces. They feel anxious; nervously they chew up
small bits of skin.
The teeth move autonomously, biting the finger’s nails.
Aggressively, the teeth bite parts of the nail, moving their way along down
to the cuticles. The biting sound intensifies the continuous and redundant
motion.
The tongue takes pleasure in manipulating the sticky substance it discovered in the mouth. It is pressing the florescent green lump against the inside of the lips. Slowly, the tongue is penetrating the lips stretching a thin layer of gum across its surface. Air starts lifting the membrane off the tongue. Aggressively, air pushes against the layer of gum until it pops. The tongue repeats the act. However, this time the air moves slower, more softly. Short little breaths allow the bubble to expand and contract without breaking immediately. The bubble gets larger with each breath until it can no longer resist the tension. It is filled with air, emptiness, until it pops once again.
Joyfully the tongue is grabbing the long, sweet and chewy
worm. The lips press tightly around it. Avidly the teeth tear the worm into
pieces. The mouth takes unrestrained pleasure in consuming the red candy.
click on images for enlargement of video stillls
