To my dear friend, Naïma, who is already 10...
Video, 3’ 25“
2006

A video as a double self-portrait of Naïma and myself: It is composed of drawings (by Naïma, Age 5), that are animated, my voice over, that tells my thoughts and wonders, and an interpretation of Pippi Longstocking’s song (by Maria Neckam), with which we both, Naïma and I, grew up.

Until Sigmund Freud’s Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), children were often regarded as asexual, having no sexuality until later development. Nowadays, his theory of psycho-sexual development (five distinct phases: the oral stage, the anal stage (1.5 - 3.5 years), the phallic stage (3.5 – 6 years), the latency phase (6–12 years of age), and the genital, or adult, stage) is widely known, even though it has been rejected and/or labelled obsolete. Nevertheless acknowledging the existence of child sexuality was a milestone at that time and still nowadays child’s sexuality is often considered taboo. Children of all ages are sexual beings, capable of sexual activity, enjoyment and fantasies. To my dear friend Naïma, who is already 10... shows some of them. While questioning acquired gender roles, it reveals a child’s playful, fabulous view on sexuality and my perception and thoughts simultaneously.


VIDEO

Idea, concept and animation: Nina Höchtl
Drawings: Naïma, Age 5
Interpretation of Pippi Longstocking’s song: Maria Neckam

Presented during the ANIMOTIONfestival in Sibiu, Rumania (July 2007)