Inward Whispers – Take a look from the inside – Lecteur poétique: Christian Dotremont, 2004 (2011)
MIXED TECHNIQUE
In the late 1990s, Chantal Maes began a series of portraits of airport personnel. In Inward Whispers , she captures each time a moment in which the person portrayed does not seem to be present here and now. More than still portraits, these are photographs in which the gaze is turned inward and the viewer's attention is drawn to an inaudible internal monologue. Whereas in Inward Whispers it remains at whispers, in Take a look from the inside the audience becomes part of a mental and physical process. In this video, Maes records how the poem “Qu'il nous arrive de bafouiller” by Christian Dotremont - translated by Hugo Claus as “When it happens that we stutter” - is read by a stutterer. Maes films the text to the dislocated rhythm of the reader. His hesitations, repetitions and stumbles not only make the viewer aware of his struggle, but also bring to light unsuspected linguistic connections and deeper layers of meaning.