Being Seen Seeing

An auction house is a theatrical world of codes and gestures, which only the initiated understand. Here, works of art are put ‘under the hammer’ and change owners, as their artistic value is measured in monetary terms. With borderline absurd humour and an unusually sharp eye for the telling details, Majse Vilstrup records the dramaturgy of an auction and the symbolic exchange. At the same time, she studies those present as if they were a rare and surreal animal species. Her film is a warm and witty analysis of all the mechanisms through which works of art become objects that allow buyers to measure their status.