1. Graduation
50
2013
Kask
Conservatorium
51
School of
Arts
SILVIA DEFRANCE
‘Her Voice’
In ‘Her Voice’, Silvia Defrance stud-
ies the potential of sensory cinema. Her
doctoral research, which was initiated
at KASK/School of Arts Ghent in 2006,
evolved from a general question concern-
ing the narrative structure of audio-visual
art into an analysis of the existing models
of representation of traditional film in
relation to the representation of women
in our visual culture.
The theoretical reflection, for which
Gilles Deleuze and Laura U. Marks
served as the most important theoreti-
cal guides, is contained in the book Her
Voice. Een artistiek onderzoek naar het
potentieel van het zintuiglijke filmbeeld
in alternatieve verhaalstructuren (‘Her
Voice. Artistic research into the potential
of the sensory cinematic image in alterna-
tive narrative structures’). The traditional
narrative structures whose potential
influence on individuation is analysed on
a theoretical level in the book are ef-
fectively dismantled in the experimental
films Candy Darling and Her Voice that
Defrance created in the course of her
research. Through the use of a distinc-
tive corporeal and visual language that
combines live action and animation tech-
niques, Defrance evokes a sensory expe-
rience in these films, exploring the line
between suggestion and representation.
Candy Darling is a wordless phantasma-
goria of images in which Defrance em-
ploys an aesthetic that harks back to the
expressiveness of silent film. In the sec-
ond film, Her Voice, a corporeal language
of spasms and ‘crazy’ poses aids in dis-
secting the forced masquerade of women
as ‘femme fatale’, ‘mystic’ and ‘sex toy’.
The voiceover engages in a dialogue with
the visuals and attests to a critical inter-
pretation of the three historical icons the
film is based on: Lola Montez, Hildegard
von Bingen and Betty Boop, who are all
played by Lisbeth Gruwez.
In her search for an ‘alternative cinema’,
Silvia Defrance explores the potential of
a sensory visual style that puts the physi-
cal experience of film before the rational
understanding of a narrative plot. In
exploring the limits of certain traditional
film codes, she questions the dominant
structures of filmmaking. To this end, she
makes use of an experimental method of
montage where she lets the film develop
‘in the process’. Defrance’s films are ex-
ponents of the independent experimental
film scene and of time-based art within
the visual arts.
Candy Darling was warmly received at
international film festivals in the ‘short
independent films’ category and gained
several awards including Best Short Film
at the San Francisco Short Film Festival
(2009). Candy Darling was screened at
The Anthology Film Archives in New
York, Project Horizon, Flemish Artists in
Teheran, Souvenirs from Earth, Palais To-
kyo, Paris and added to the Tribeca Film
Institute’s Reframe Collection (2011).
The film was also acquired by the Flem-
ish public broadcasting company Canvas
in 2010. At the occasion of the comple-
tion of Silvia Defrance’s PhD in Septem-
ber 2012, Candy Darling and Her Voice
were screened at KASKcinema.
(bottom) Her Voice, 2012, HD video, 10 min. Set photographer: Kris
Dewitte. Dancer/actress: Lisbeth Gruwez.
(top) Candy Darling, 2008, Digital Betacam video, 26 min. Actress: Silvia
Defrance (detail mouth) as the character Candy Darling.
