Aïda Ruilova has often referred to French director Jean Rollin as one of her foremost influences. Rollin's films of the late 1960s onwards exploring a mix of horror and soft porn have been a font of inspiration for her terrifying scenes. In life like, however, she addresses his influence more directly by retrospectively inscribing her own work into Rollin's oeuvre through a carefully crafted visual montage of diverse visual strata. Her set-creating the here and now within her film-is Rollin's own Paris apartment, which is full of all manner of horror and other props, as well as books. Rollin is lying on a bed, apparently lifeless. A pale young woman with black hair is clinging to him, touching him and stroking his face as though trying to close the eyes of the dead man. The visceral intensity of these moments of intimacy increases throughout the film until they almost suggest a sexual act. [...]

Dominikus Müller


Catalogue excerpt
fast forward 2. The Power of Motion
Media Art Sammlung Goetz
Editors: Ingvild Goetz and Stephan Urbaschek
Ostfildern, Hatje Cantz, 2010

Aïda Ruilova, life like, 2006
Single-channel video installation, color, sound
Edition 3/3 (+ 2 a. p.)
5' 19"