“Para acariciarte mejor”
“The Better to Caress You With”

New York, 2003

Video:
Single-channel digital video
1 hour 49 minutes 36 seconds
Color, Silent

Photos:
Digital C-Prints
16” x 20” each

Video close-up of my hands in a static single shot, in which I apply red nail polish continuously until the bottle is finished.

In the name of beauty most women will put on makeup, do their hair, nails, depilate, diet, fix their noses and breasts. Although few women will reach society’s beauty ideals, they will sculpt their bodies as needed. In this video I play along with women’s beauty rituals, performing them in exaggerated ways to reflect the pressures imposed by today’s society. The camera focuses on the part of the body where the action takes place: With repetitive gestures I apply nail polish continuously for two hours, questioning our attraction to makeup and its power of seduction.

Its title was inspired by the Red Riding Hood tale.