My initial response to the question, what makes us human? It is our desires and passions. This led me to the short film ‘Masquerade’ 1953. In this film a girl dances around in a room, watched by masks. The masks soon reveal themselves to be men. Throughout the film she dances around them; seemingly to seduce them. Some ignore her and some embrace her. I interpreted this film to be a young girl fantasising about how men perceive her and wondering how she can appeal to them . Her exploration of this seems to be confident, although she is hurt when rejected or ignored, she continues on and eventually finds a partner to join her in dance. The film uses movement as a means of expression which provided me with interesting stills which could be used to develop throughout my work. I felt this theme of exploring ones passions for the first time linked well with Hannah Arendt’s text and the idea that our innermost thoughts must first be sanitised to exist in the public sphere. This is relevant because although we live in a more sex positive society in the present, there is still a certain stigma attached to the initial blossoming of the female desire. It is not always sexual in nature, rather it is the curiosity of our place in relation to men and the male gaze.
Charlotte Geekie 
Charlotte Geekie
IMAGE: A1 loose acrylic painting
IMAGE: A3 acrylic on board
IMAGE: Initial sketch