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Annemiek, February 11, 1997

Color video still of a blond girl from the shoulders up, wearing a headband, white turtleneck, and purple plaid overshirt.

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  • Color video still of a blond girl from the shoulders up, wearing a headband, white turtleneck, and purple plaid overshirt.

Date:

1997

Artist:

Rineke Dijkstra
Dutch, born 1959

About this artwork

Rineke Dijkstra practices an art of quiet, engaged observation. Since she began exhibiting her photographic work in 1993, she has developed an international reputation as one of the most visible and highly regarded Dutch artists of her generation. She is known for flat, frontal, color portraits of individuals that are characterized by a remarkable formal classicism, conceptual rigor, and psychological depth. Of her work, the artist has commented, “I discovered that if you want to give a general impression, you should be very specific.” In the series Beach Portraits, for instance, she depicts her subjects within a precise geographic setting yet avoids identifying them by name.
Although video is somewhat of an anomaly in Dijkstra’s oeuvre, her earliest attempts in the medium, like her photographs, focus on the tender aspects of teenage sexuality and social behavior. For instance, both Buzz Club/Mysteryworld (1997) and Annemiek, February 11, 1997 feature subjects that were filmed alone or in groups, appearing before a blank white background. Buzz Club, however, grounds these individuals within their wider location—a nightclub in Liverpool—through the use of ambient noise as well as through their unselfconsciousness in front of the camera; although they stand in front of a screen, they continue to smoke, dance, and chew gum. In this way, Buzz Club serves as a stylistic and compositional bridge between Dijsktra’s photographic portraits and Annemiek.
Dijkstra shot Annemiek with a single fixed camera, and only the subject’s head and shoulders are visible in the frame. The work features an adolescent Dutch girl alone before the camera, lip-synching the ballad “I Wanna Be With You” by the popular American teen band the Backstreet Boys. As the music starts, Annemiek appears nervous and embarrassed, but only moments later she furrows her brow in a momentary lapse of self-consciousness, allowing herself to imitate the lyrics’ passion. Quickly catching herself, she manages a bashful smile. Throughout the video, she continues to struggle between this adolescent awkwardness and adult confidence.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Rineke Dijkstra

Title

Annemiek, February 11, 1997

Place

Netherlands (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1997

Medium

Color video, sound (projection); 4 min. loop

Edition

2 of 8, plus 2 artist's proofs

Credit Line

Modern and Contemporary Discretionary Fund

Reference Number

2000.312

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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