Supermodel

Supermodel Petra Nemcova was vacationing in Thailand when the tsunami hit. Her boyfriend was swept to his death and she, severely injured, barely survived by clinging to palm tree for eight hours. Drawing his inspiration from this image of a cultivated beauty holding her own in the face of disaster, David Breskin constructs a narrative of the life of a model who battles against the pain and uncertainties of her youth. She asserts creative control, transforming herself from a vulnerable young woman into an aesthetic symbol. The main narrative is set against a background of borrowed text: Internet quotations about everything from military operations to the practice of vaginoplasty. Taken together, these elements create a disarming chorus of human voices, each involved in its own fight against the futility and sorrow symbolized by the cataclysmic tidal wave.