Everyone can infer some things from the way you look and carry yourself, both in public and in private life. But how many of these are true? What do we show and what do we hide by the way we look? What happens when we imitate others, pretend, or play with culturally coded conventions to reinvent ourselves? These questions do not answer themselves; instead, artist Luka Karssenberg has taken up the task to delve into the lives of strangers, challenging them to enact their version of who they are.
The resulting works are a mixture of documentary and fiction, improvisation and script, making us wonder what to believe. The work can be seen as a celebration of human self-representation, yet at times the vulnerability of her subjects painfully shows through 'cracks' in the narrative. Through extremely intimate encounters, Karssenberg puts the universal question to the viewer as to his or her self-perception: are our identities a matter of fate, or as easily manipulated as putting on a different dress?