The Samstag Alumni

The 2007 Anne & Gordon Samstag
International Visual Arts Scholarships

Anthea Behm | Sarah CrowEST | Kirra Jamison |
Paul Knight | Jess MacNeil | Nick Mangan |

In The Chrissy Diaries, Anthea Behm catalogues the female archetypes that girls dream of becoming when they grow up, but she portrays them with poignant disillusionment. The short film clips of Chrissy (played by Behm) fulfilling her fantasies don't quite match the glamorous images a little girl might imagine.

A contestant in a beauty pageant is represented as the modern day princess. Just like a princess in a fairy story, the lucky winner wanders tentatively through a dark wood, but instead of bearing the title bestowed upon her, the sash Chrissy wears is emblazoned with her phone number. As a bikini model she smiles bravely despite the sun in her eyes. The shoot is neither on a beach nor beside a hotel pool, but in an anonymous waterhole, which can only be recognised as being beside the sea when an occasional wave breaks orgasmically over the horizon. The cheerleader's solitary routine is performed in rather awkward silence at night on a deserted playing field. The only sound is the rustle of pompoms. Without the supporting context of other cheerleaders and the roar of a crowd, all the choreographed exuberance seems a bit silly and sad. Incongruous elements infiltrate the The Chrissy Diaries. As happens in dreams, there's always something wrong with the picture.

Timothy Morell
from his Samstag catalogue essay;
Loose connections

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• The Samstag Alumni

The Airhostess, from: The Chrissy Diaries 2005
DVD still from synchronised four channel video installation
36 minute loop
parachute by 'Parachutes for Ladies'
View the video
© the artist
 

The Bikini Model, from: The Chrissy Diaries 2005
DVD stills from synchronised four channel video installation
36 minute loop
View the video
© the artist