Running Away/Looking Back (Secure Base Phenomenon), 2023, Single Channel Video, 3 minutes 32 seconds

Running Away/Looking Back (Secure Base Phenomenon), explores the clichéd cinematic shot of a girl running away from the camera while continually glancing back over her shoulder.  This shot is commonly used in both horror films and commercial advertisements, to different ends. I intercut material from both sources to create a non-stop sequence of girls running away while looking back at the camera.  Some are running for their lives while others entice the viewer in a sort of gleeful prance designed to create a fantasy of freedom and happiness (at the cost of a bottle of perfume or handbag). The psychological theory Secure Base Phenomenon refers to a figure (usually a parent) that represents a “secure base” a child can look to for security in order to freely explore the world. In my video, the figure (represented by the camera) alternately represents a predator who wants to literally possess and kill her or an idealizing gaze that wants to contain her in a fantasy that she could never actually realize- a different kind of possession/murder.