video and drawing
2006
A gentle indictment of the perils of cronyism: to function as a community, one constantly engages in practices that are sycophantic and creepy but also tender, affectionate and genuinely intimate. This is a video and drawings of Bay Area art community friends, touching each other “inappropriately”.
The piece also addresses politics and star-making: who gets picked out for that extra coat of gloss, and who doesn’t. Friends “glossed” their chosen partner’s faces with shimmering cream makeup to make them glow: their matching ink portraits were also done on similarly pearlescent mica paper. The resultant work is tender, awkward, and funny: community members work in such professional and emotional proximity to one another, but can rarely acknowledge the intense intimacy involved in this.
Continuing the questionable taste of the theme, the video is set to James Taylor’s “You’ve Got A Friend,” and sports a hazy, soft-core filter.
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