As a boy, on his way to school, he used to pick a mandarin from the tree that grew in the curve of the staircase to his home. After all these years, the scent of a mandarin peel brings him back to his youth; to the classroom, notebooks and pencils – to the boy he was, the person he wanted to be and, perhaps, already was in the eyes of his classmates.

Being a famous fashion designer, Hussein Chalayan picks a piece – it’s just a fragment – from the infinitely complex pattern of human experiences and relationships. Micro Geography: that’s how he calls his installation in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

The installation shows a human figure, a woman, under water. The water is moved by the wind and changes colour, depending on the time of the day. Like the small plants, the woman seems to float with the tide and to be rooted in the soil. But at the same time there are camera’s everywhere. Each movement of her body is seen by many eyes. The figure is trapped in an instable network of relationships. And then yet another person comes and starts looking at her. That person is you!

Who does she want to be? Who is she in your eyes. And what does your gaze mean for who she is or will become?

This video is part of the The Art of Fashion exhibition, on view until January 10th 2010 at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.