The Blind Date project is about five confrontations of five pairs of artists. During a short period prior to the World Wide Video Festival they react to each other's work and thinking. This will result in five combined presentations.
The videos by De Vries distinguish themselves by the precise choreography of everyday movements and acts. Her characters are often stereotyped caricatures who by their actions either confirm our expectations of their behaviour or mercilessly denounce them. The subtle juggling of clichés is a sophisticated tactic to lure the viewer into entering a mental space where things are not as they seem to be at first sight. A world is implied that lies way beyond the screen. The structure of 'Andy en Ariel' for instance resembles a photo novel. The rhythmic sequence of still images is the result of an effective interweaving of several ways of recording. This stylizes the performance and the action becomes a pose. With clinical precision the camera isolates the details which reveal a hidden drama. A trace of lipstick on a tooth or a small stain on a spotlessly white napkin become metaphors for hosophobia. The video shows the compulsive mechanisms and reveals the obsession with total perfection as well as the impossibility of ever attaining it. As the work is based on a set of unwritten codes and agreements, an interpretation is often impossible. The images are most mysterious and confronting. They give the viewer the impression that a choice has to be made while there really is no choice offered. In the first place, however, these images have been construed to be experienced. Within the hermetic image poetry of De Vries lies a penetrating artistic statement about our concept of beauty.
De Vries' blind date is Dutch artist Viviane Sassen.
– Remco Vlaanderen
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Production: W139, World Wide Video Festival
Mascha de Vries ° 1972, Amersfoort
Lives and works in Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
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1 9 9 8 
