Someone is in my house / It Follows

For this part I would like to relate my practice to an exhibition and film that I have seen recently.

The first one was the exhibition; Someone is in my house, which was an exhibition that showed the works of David Lynch, with the focus on his other works as an artist besides his feature films.

The second one was a film; It Follows by David Robert Mitchell.

The exhibition: Someone is in my House, was interesting to me in particular because David Lynch sees himself as an artist that also happens to make films, which is also how I like to view my own practice. His introduction to film was a coincident that happened during his studies at the Art Academy, which was also the case for me.

The exhibition included a huge part from his oeuvre including: drawings, paintings, installations, lamps, texts, comics, photo’s, short films and music.

What was so amazing about this, was that all of his works regardless of the medium were connected, making his practice limitless. It made me view my own line of work from a different perspective. Every expression can be part of a bigger whole and all of these pieces together form their own universe.

All of Lynch’s pieces are interwoven with dark violence and sexuality. He never lost track of his artistry and always kept painting, even if he was short on time because of his career as a film director.

“I miss painting when I’m not painting”, says Lynch in the recent biography: Room to dream.

I think, there couldn’t have been a better title for the exhibition then: Someone is in my house. Besides his obvious love for dark suburban settings, it felt like, for a moment I was in his house and had a brief look in his mind.

This reminds me of what one of the tutors at my master’s program; Ine Lamers once said to me:

“Your own practice is like the house you live in; in a way it has to become your home.”

This is so important to me because, when I view my line of work it does feel like it is mine. This is my own space.

The film: It Follows, was one of those films, that I wish I had made.

Known typically as “the STD movie”, but when I saw it, I felt it was a terrifying metaphor on the aftermath of sexual assault. Including victim-blaming, trauma and the loss of one’s innocence.

After the main character “Jay” has sex with her date “Hugh/Jeff”, he sedates her with a chloroform rag, and she is infected with a curse that her attacker first carried. A monster will follow her that has a human form, at worst the form of someone you love.

If the monster kills Jay, it will haunt its previous victim, before the virus was transmitted to her.

It never runs but has a walking pace straight towards its victim and since it has a human form it is very difficult to spot the danger.

Jay is now aware that she is never safe and always subjected to a lustful eye, an awareness that follows her where-ever she goes.

After going through the disbelief of her peers it becomes clear that no one is really safe from the monster.

The other characters in the film slowly empathize with her pain and fear, when they too are confronted with the fact that they are not safe from its violence. They may not see the monster but they are not immune to being affected by it.

The film is very strong in pointing out this change in perspective by the use of metaphors. Next to the following monster, the film is full of symbolisms. Mostly using these to commentate on the intense sexual pressure that is put on us from a young age.

All of this while the lack of a clear time period or season already gives the viewer the feeling that something is “off” in this universe. Creating a film that is not just scary but also extremely unsettling.

Without the monster, the core story of “It Follows” really doesn’t change. Jay’s emotional state remains consistent with many accounts of sexual assault victims.

What the Horror genre provides is an excuse to externalize many of the reactions that would otherwise be much more muted. This makes sense as the language of cinema relies on character actions and reactions.

“It follows” puts the audience in a victim’s shoes, with the monster mostly serving to convey Jay’s prevailing sense of paranoia, dread and hopelessness.

I named this film in particular, because I would like to make a psychological horror film in the future. When that time comes, I would also make sure that it has a strong underlying message that engages with our society like “It Follows”.