Elsa Gregersdotter: You Have Such Sweet Ears

In her film, Elsa Gregersdotter explores the intimacy of female friendship by alternating a film sequence of two middle-aged women in conversation with each other, with subtitles based on ambiguous compliments she herself has received in her life.

For example, one woman comments to the other: “It’s strange that someone as beautiful as you can also be so ugly.” This imposed comment bridges the gap between authentic experiences as a younger woman and the interpretation staged in a cross-generational context.

Comments such as these can be interpreted differently depending on the perspective and age of both the recipient and the viewer, as they simultaneously reflect on their own memories and conversations. This negatively-positive critique of the female body reveals the dual ability of language to be both cruel and absurd at the same time.

Elsa Gregersdotter (b. 1992) is educated at the Valand Academy and works in Stockholm. She works as a photographer and artist and moves between staged and documentary photography and video. Her works often deal with the body and the gaze on ourselves and others. She strives to create a visual world that tells something about being human.