Kopin Katalin (szerk.): Test objektív. A test reprezentációja a kortárs művészetben - Ferenczy Múzeum kiadványai, C. sorozat: Katalógusok 5. (Szentendre, 2013)

Lili Zoe Érmezei draws our attention to a very relevant and actual state of existence in her photo and video project entitled Body Borders - Skype Project She reflects on the virtual presence replacing personal interaction, experiencing life events as a passive observer and the ambivalent nature of relationships established in imaginary spaces. When taking photos, Érmezei wants to create a situation in which the photographer is not physically present, therefore neither her presence, nor her concrete instructions have a direct influence on her models. The experimental area is a sterile white cube in which models can experience their supposed or real independence in an unlimited ’void’. Skype as a means of communication, in the present case as an artistic medium, draws a sharp but penetrable line between intimate and impersonal space: it separates and connects at the same time. The nude models create a vulnerable and sensitive sphere around themselves, which the artist cannot enter in her physical reality. She has a chance to observe it only as an outsider. On the one hand, the models have been left alone with their fear of being revealed and their anxiety. On the other hand, they can enjoy showing themselves in a free and intuitive way. Instead of an artificial body image suggested by the outsider, our own ideas of our bodies are emphasised.

Érmezei is balancing on the thin borderline separating private and public spheres nowadays. Due to technical devices, we can be part of other people’s life, and become voyeurs without leaving our mark in virtual space. The artist creates a vacuum which the coercive norms and expectations of the outside world cannot penetrate. When the photos were taken of the computer screen, pixels forming a natural layer on the surface of the pictures came into being, visualising the transparent border between the photographer and her models. As a result, a kind of sfumato softens the impersonality of the rigid space, turning sharp contours into soft arches.

Besides making private and public spheres clash, Lili Zoe Érmezei wants to find the answer to questions such as ’the discovery of intimacy in the impersonality of the digital world and the rediscovery of female identity by establishing an unusual and unconventional relationship between the photographer and her model’.

Despite the objective, distant artistic attitude and the impersonality of space, the result of her work is a personal and intimate series of photos conveying lyricism. The personal interviews with the models are important parts of the series.