Pink Ball

In her media works, Swedish artist Annika Larsson investigates the social mechanisms of dominance and submission, control and powerlessness. Her predominant interest is in male figures, who often exhibit narcissistic, compulsive or sadomasochistic traits.
The film Pink Ball is set on a beach and shows two men having their way with a third naked man wearing a pink cap. They interact only through enigmatic looks and gestures, as well as slowed-down poses and actions that are charged with an underlying homoerotic tension. Larsson uses visual strategies of seduction from Hollywood films, fashion photography, advertising and soft porn. 
The camera crops the men’s bodies with voyeuristic close-ups that intensify the sexual character of the film. At the same time, the monumentalizing depiction of the bodies is reminiscent of the visual language of propaganda films. The time-stretched reproduction of the images and the electronic soundtrack by Tobias Bernstrup heighten the film’s dramatic quality.