Andres Contreras Rodriguez – /untitled/deni (2014)

I’m not solicitous when it comes to multiple exposures. To the extent that I am struggling to find another image besides this to which I can point to and say I’m okay with this.

In fairness:  my motivation for singling this out are entirely based on extrinsic properties; namely, the single harsh overhead light source and extremely soft-focus closeup remind me of the iconic still of Marlene Dietrich smoking in Shanghai Express.

Secondly, it feels weirdly reminiscent of Floria Sigismondi’s music video work, esp. Marilyn Manson’s The Beautiful People. A correspondence that is interesting to me considering I’ve never known quite what to do with Sigismondi’s seemingly free-floating, untethered creative vision. Recognizing it as a bizarre, mutant appendage extending from the corpse of neo-noir makes her work a wee bit more accessible and perhaps even strangely endearing in the same way cloying small towns are always deemed quaint.