David Rosetzky at ACCA

The current exhibition on at ACCA is 'Ourselves', which is part of Melbourne Festival. It is a collection of videos from a variety of artists, all investigating 'ourselves'. David Rosetzky's piece Portrait of Cate Blanchett (2008) is part of this exhibition. The film is filmed in a large open warehouse with a variety of wooden ladders and sheets of wood leaning against the walls. The film begins with a close-up shot of a pair of hands, held in front of the person, they are moving as if doing some sort of warm up or miming exercise. Slowly the camera zooms out to reveal that the hands belong to Cate Blanchett. This then cuts to a shot of her sitting in a chair, fairly close to the camera, after a few seconds she stands up picks up the chair moves it back and sits down. The shot blurs then focuses; this continues a couple of times. A voiceover begins as this is being shown. Blanchett speaks about wanting to be seen and not wanting to be seen and how playing a character has caused her to hide behind a mask. Up to this point she has been dressed in a simple outfit (grey pants and a black tank top) with minimal makeup and her hair roughly done. The film then cuts to a shot of the chair side on to the camera, with Blanchett standing in front of it. The chair has a number of outer garments laid over it. The voiceover continues and Blanchett begins to put on these other clothes. At this point she is speaking about becoming a character and forming the character, which is what she is doing in the film as she layers on the clothes; at points the film freezes and the voice continues, to give emphasis to what is being said. The voice over continues with Blanchett saying that most often she doesn't remember the characters; and that so many people have an opinion on her personality or who she is, that she doesn't even think about "who I am" any more. This then cuts to a shot of her lying on the floor of the warehouse, peaceful, and contemplating, the voiceover speaks about how who she is is constantly shifting, and she strives to achieve a state of openness, where all actions are instinct. Blanchett speaks about how people are contradictory and unpredictable. The voiceover finishes with the comment that what you think you are communicating is not always perceived by others the way you think or intend it to be perceived and you have to give this over and accept that. The film ends with a dance exercise to music that stops somewhat suddenly after about 15 seconds and she walks out; the film then fades to black.

I found this film very interesting and thought provoking, in that it has the viewer question several things about themselves. How they are seen, and who they are, whether or not they are open or unpredictable and how it is that they wish to be percieved and whether or not they are perceived that way.

David Rosetzky Portrait of Cate Blanchett (2008), video still (detail)