 | Chloe Piene's video, Blackmouth is a 4-minute loop of a girl in her underwear, covered in mud and screaming in slow-motion, her cries echoing like the primal moans of a wounded elephant. The first time I walked through the darkened gallery, I noticed a couple of men watching the video and cackling uncontrollably. Later, I overhead two middle-aged women confess that they found the piece deeply distressing, almost unwatchable. Either way, the effect was cheap and sensational. |  |
Still from Blackmouth, 2003, by Chloe Piene, courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art. |
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