The Making of Monster

Directed by Douglas Gordon

In The Making of Monster the artist’s face becomes grotesque through the application of strips of transparent adhesive tape, typical of Douglas Gordon’s performance-based films that often depict his own body in action. Also characteristic of his work, the scene takes place in front of a mirror, suggesting the kind of personal self-reflection that one is capable of – both good and evil. The video makes clear cinematographic reference to the ‘alter-ego’ transformation in Mamoulian’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and to the “You looking at me?” sequence performed in front of a mirror by Robert De Niro in Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, which also inspired Gordon’s Through a Looking Glass (1999).