Open Studio at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
Strain of Will
2026
7 min, sound, loop
HD video and 35 mm film
Direction and editing: Davide Hjort Di Fabio
Cinematography: Davide Hjort Di Fabio and Cecilie Flyger Hansen
Color grading: Elliot Bechaeu
Sound: Mikkel Foldager
Actors: Márton Tóth, Théo
Disposition
2026
Public bench
Cabinet des glaces mouvantes
2026
Print on Hahnemühle 250 gr paper
Special thanks to the Ingrid Lindbäck Langaards Stiftelse and Statens Kunstfond, Mads, Cecilie, Elliot, Mikkel, Lisa, Albin, Emil, Daniele, Benny, Márton and Théo.
In 1776, in one of her private boudoirs at the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette installed two large mirrors that could be raised and lowered like shutters before the windows. They shielded the room from curious eyes outside while filling it with her own reflection. A gesture worthy of Narcissus, or a need to look inward?
Self-consciousness, desire, shame and vanity shape the way we see ourselves, until we eventually begin peering at ourselves through the keyhole in our own head. We become our own voyeurs.
The mirrors in Marie Antoinette’s chamber were designed to control visibility, but they also multiplied reflection. They offered protection while making self-observation unavoidable. Even solitude became a kind of stage.
The wish to disappear can be as consuming as the wish to be desired. To reject the gaze is often another way of imagining it.
The body in the video Strain of Will performs in front of a camera, pretending not to know it is being watched until the very last moment. He lies in bed as if unaware of the gaze, while I, behind the camera, am there all the time.
The video moves between closeness and distance, making it difficult for the gaze to settle. The bodies, the rooms and the lenses come close, then disappear. They become exposed, then almost impossible to grasp.
I am interested in this moment when someone does not yet know they are being watched. Before the gaze becomes conscious, there is a kind of freedom. But perhaps that freedom is only temporary. Once I become aware of being seen, I begin to imagine how I appear. The gaze enters the body.
Davide Hjort Di Fabio
Photo documentation: Emil Sandström