VIDEO: "I Found An Island In Your Heart, Country In Your Eyes" (2004)
"I Found An Island In Your Heart, Country In Your Eyes" is a found footage video-work from 2004. It merges the music video ’Dirrty’(2002) by Christina Aguilera with personal "autobiographical" quotes taken from the pop star’s official fansite. The original video has been re-cut, the music edited out and quotes have been superimposed as subtitles on the film, while read aloud by a female computer voice-over.
720 x 576, TV-Screen, 2.10 minutes as infinite loop, audio
Edition: 5 pieces
Christina Aguilera is used here emblematically for a type of female figure often propagated by the popular entertainment industry. Sexuality is pushed as the main feature of the product; physical attraction and perfection are pre-defined according to the ideals of merchandized beauty and are promoted in a raw, aggressive manner to sell a new iconic role model that could fittingly be described as a product of "Tetris-pop": a carefully staged construct of desire that fits into the market niche like a tetromino into its gap.
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Aguilera's quotes, narrated here by a female computer voice, seem to suggest that the singer obtained her individuality through struggle and liberation. As promising and convincing as these statements may sound, in the video context they grotesquely contradict the images shown and become empty words devoid of any real meaning. Ultimately the video unravels a dead-end type of femininity, that neither produces anything new, nor is it able to indicate a way out for the target group: through the sex symbol imagery, the „strong, liberated, individual woman“ role model is reduced to nothing but the model of a „very, very sexy woman“.
"Where she wanted to go, at least initiality, was to her Los Angeles home where she could catch her breath, reconnecting with herself and her two canine companions. "I needed a break," she reveals. "For a long time. I’d been uncomfortable with the image that had been built around me and my music. It felt like I was pretending trying to hide the real me, and hurting inside because of it. I was straight ahead about what I wanted to do." Christina continues. "I wanted it all." And what she wanted she set about to achieve with a relentless determination and a willingness to stretch her creative boundaries. The album Stripped slowly but surely took shape not only as an exercise in breathtaking stylistic diversity but as a resonant and revealing look into the mind and emotions of a young woman on the verge of personal and professional liberation. For Christina Aguilera, it all begins by getting real. "This music is who I am", she confidently asserts. "You can take it or leave it but Im not going to change, not for anyone. If I have any influence as an entertainer, I want it to be optimistic and uplifting, to make this world a little better places to live."
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