Taking On A Name

Echoing Plato’s allegory of the cave, Taking On a Name is a self-portrait in landscape.Taking On A Name centres on the relationship between Beban and her beloved landscape of Lake Ohrid. Standing as if on water, the horizon and mountains looming in the background, the artist’s figure oscillates between a state of acute separateness from her surroundings to that of her complete disintegration into shadow. This is achieved purely through a delicate balancing of film lighting and the natural light that emerges at sunrise and disappears at sunset.Taking On A Name was filmed next to a cave whose floor was covered with a layer of water, walls painted with medieval Byzantine frescos. This cave used to be Beban’s favourite hiding place throughout her childhood.