“Absolutely Normal”, 7'09", 2000

My fascination in animation as a way of artistic expression revolvs mainly around the fact that film is a form of time. This means that during a certain time I am allowed to tell the things I would like to say, using both pictures and sound. For me, animation is the ultimate way of expressing. To draw and tell. Something that is also very interesting is if you compare animation and live film. For the animator absolutely nothing happens by chance, he/she has total control all the way. My films are personal, but in a distant way, perhaps because they are animations and not live film.

Absolutely Normal is an animation in which two visually identical women represent one person. In seven animations they passively watch or actively perform metaphoric actions, that together symbolize and give a concrete form to a fictive separation of the human mind. The animated parts the video contains has their own titles that work as a support for the spectator without being too obvious, thanks to the phonetic text that has been used. The drawn women use the picture space like a stage where they act out what could be described as a sort of animated performances. To emphasize the triviality about these actions, the performances are done by routine and without any enthusiasm what so ever. The video's main purpose is to make these negative human behaviours visible, and in a way give the viewer a chance of self-examination and insight. The main title is to remind us about the normality of this behaviour.

Cecilia Lundqvist