LICK IT, LEAK IT, LIKE IT

video
04.57

lick it, leak it, like it, merges fleshy sensuality with an unsettling commentary on resource scarcity and environmental crisis. In this semi-erotic perfor- mance video, a series of individuals gather by the seashore, facing the endless expanse of the ocean, their eyes fixed on tiny ice sculptures clutched in their hands. Each sculpture is like a popsicle but uniquely absurd, containing frozen fragments of plastic litter, remnants, and waste collected from the sea by Kruithof herself. Set against the tones of upbeat music by a Brazilian band Barbatuques, the act of licking becomes both a survival gesture and a mockery of excess, coloured by the sounds of uncanny body percussion. This depiction may all seem a phantasmagoric technology for thirsty bod- ies in a decaying world yet to come. In this world, with the sun glaring down, the performers’ thirst feels both urgent and ironic, while the litter seems to gain a nutritious high value. Are we there yet?

Kruithof directs her footage as an opaque parody of human consumption—of the endless drive for satisfaction—juxtaposed against an increasingly depleted natural world. The tropical scenes shot in Curaçao contrast with architectural, and at times abstract, shots of an ice tunnel in a glacier in Chamonix, pairing two distant climates in eerie relation. The ever-present melting ice evokes the passage of time, with falling water drops acting as the ticking clock of environmental degradation. lick it, leak it, like it blends humor, bodily senses, and absurdity highlighting the ironies of modern life: the relentless consumption of resources and expe- riences, to the point of poignancy, where pleasure masks the irreversible consequences. The video is a steamy reflection on our complicity in climate change and an awkward reminder of how easily we’re tempted to push a “like” button in response to what is truly horrific.

Direction, video & production: Anouk Kruithof
editing: Anouk Kruithof & Ieva Maslinskaite
co-production in Curaçao: Xander Krolis
color correction: Nicola Perret
soundtrack: Barbatuques Num Deu Pa Credita

Played & performed by:
Gerard Buitenhuis
Avantia Damberg
Christopher Damiana
Colinda Groenendijk
Xander Krolis
Dio Melaan
Ivar Oehlers
Melanie Richards
Sylvia Waterloo