Act / Matilde Søes Rasmussen

“In the publication Act Matilde Søes Rasmussen experiments with new technologies and puts it into relation to performance, nature, the beastly and bodily. The publication, which consists of text and photography, was created over a period of two months where Rasmussen was employed as a dresser at a theater. Texts about Rasmussen's experiences at the theater are continuously interrupted by the fictional story SILENCE, which is about Beauty Eternal, a racing horse in Hong Kong. There are clear parallels between Beauty Eternal and the performers at the theater, where beauty, the need for applause and to be seen flourish in a love-hate relationship with performance pressure and low self-esteem. The meaning of being looked at and the need to be documented is made clear in a humorous way in the text What's the purpose of anything really, if no one is looking at you while you are doing it?, where Rasmussen describes a favorite photograph from her own archive which the reader will never be allowed to see.

The photographs are a mixture of snapshots from everyday situations and nature that contrasts images of horses, dogs and butterflies, which are so detailed that one almost doubts whether they are photographs or something else. Here, Rasmussen's play with technologies appears and gives the texts new life when seen in relation to the artificial photographs. The publication builds upon Rasmussen's 15 year long research and documentation of her work as a professional model, where ownership and the body's relationship to being sold are recurring themes.” 

Amalie Sejersdahl, editor and curator at Bladr CPH