Fragments of a Conversation

Ten years ago, Kapajeva sat down with her mother for an hour and a half, positioned on opposite sides of a camera. The resulting video work consists solely of the silences between moments of speech. In the absence of words, we begin to create meaning in other ways – reading the mother’s glances, facial expressions, and body language. Some thoughts are bound to strong and painful emotions; speaking them aloud does not come from the mind alone, but involves the whole body. What meanings do we project onto the video without knowing the content of the conversation? What was actually said remains between mother and daughter.