Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

Amazon

A work made of 16mm color film, silent; 1:34 min. loop.
© 2005 A K Dolven.

Image actions

  • A work made of 16mm color film, silent; 1:34 min. loop.

Date:

2005

Artist:

A K Dolven
Norwegian, born 1953

About this artwork

In her films, photographs, and videos, A K (Anne Katrine) Dolven explores notions of female beauty, the Romantic sublime, and temporal transformation. Rich in art-historical and conceptual references, her typically pared-down settings blend the surreal and uncanny with prosaic depictions of everyday rituals, subverting normal expectations—for example, a little girl’s bedroom is inhabited by an elderly woman, Edvard Munch’s 1902 woodcut The Kiss is restaged in a techno club, and a corporate office becomes the setting for a modern-day Madonna and Child.
Amazon—arguably the artist’s most powerful film to date—depicts an androgynous archer repeatedly raising and drawing a bow, which casts sharp shadows across the figure’s chest. Close-up views of neck, shoulder, and upper arm muscles snapping between tension and rest are visually dissected by short sequences and rapid changes in camera angle. As Andrea Schlieker observed, “Dolven has used the transformative power of the body fragment to great effect” in her films. The choice of 16mm film and the small scale of the projected image add to the sense of intimacy conveyed by the close-up camera work. The artist has stated, “The way I use the frame in video is similar to the way I would use the four sides of a painting. I am interested in what we ‘see’ in the work, in how you touch the edge, but also how it touches upon an ‘unseen’ element, an element of the imagination, which exists outside the frame.” Vacillating between close-ups and mid-shots, the camera never reveals the identity of the protagonist, allowing the imagination to fill in the blanks.
Dolven deftly conveys a lifetime of experience in a fleeting one and a half minutes; the film is looped in such a way as to allow repeated viewings, each one divulging new information without ever telling the whole story. The piece ends with a quick mid-shot of the archer’s bare torso, exposing a missing breast. Referring to the mythic race of female warriors who were said to cut off their right breasts to facilitate the drawing of the bow and increase the accuracy of their arrows, the title conveys the harnessed strength, courage, and physical determination required to overcome breast cancer and the other corporeal obstacles women may face.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

AK Dolven

Title

Amazon

Place

Norway (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.

2005

Medium

16mm color film, silent; 1:34 min. loop

Edition

5 of 5

Credit Line

Claire and Gordon Prussian Fund for Contemporary Art

Reference Number

2008.482

Copyright

© 2005 A K Dolven.

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.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share