Screengrab from Catherine Forster’s “We Shop” (2011). Courtesy of the artist.
LOS ANGELES — Shopping is a mundane, ecstatic experience. Enter any mall that’s filled with sparkly goods and products and suddenly we feel like ourselves but amplified. This environment only exists to reinforce consumerism and our opportunity to make surface-level changes to our appearance. In Catherine Forster’s short documentary video “We Shop,” she follows Rachel Simone, an 86-year-old woman who has never left her hometown of Concord, North Carolina, and her granddaughter, Robin, a 40-something woman, from the malls to the streets to domestic space to reveal the nature of this feminine companionship.
Initially, the relationship between Robin and Rachel is unclear. At first it seemed like Robin was a nurse, hired to care for and spend time with this older woman. As the video progressed, it became obvious that they were good friends who came together for a type of best friend companionship; the two care for and look after one another. In reality, they are grandmother and granddaughter, but that aspect is less important than how their relationship manifests.
Read the full story here: http://hyperallergic.com/109213/live-girls-looking-for-fun/
