16 Millimeter Earrings
Meredith Monk
American, born 1942
1980
A 16mm film transferred to video in which Meredith Monk uses extreme close-ups, optical distortions, and sound to treat the face and voice as sites of perception and performance.
You’re struck by an unnerving close-up: two lens-like circles dominate a face—one magnifying an eye, the other a dark reflective disc—turning a human gaze into a disorienting, surreal image.
By treating film stock and lenses like extensions of the body, Monk bridges experimental cinema and performance art, expanding how sound, movement, and visual fragmentation can shape human perception.
Medium
16mm film transferred to video (color, sound)
Dimensions
25 min.
Classification
Department
Credit
Acquired through the generosity of Frederieke Taylor
Accession
1684.2000
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
