Candice
Breitz: Re-Animations
A solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford from September 13 until
November 9, 2003. |
After
a great burger and fries at Green, I thought it would be appropriate
to see an exhibition on pop culture at Modern Art Oxford.
Candice
Breitz samples, strips down and re-edits well-known films and TV
soaps.
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Growing up in the 80's, these were the images I was trying
to forget.
What
the heck was I doing here?
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| Rebekah
Roy |
You
can simply watch the five installations like TV or look for deeper
hidden meanings - it's up to you.
I
entered the first room at Modern Art Oxford and suddenly was flashed
back into a living room from the 80's.
Dallas
was everywhere on nine TVs, and the looped phrases of Miss Ellie,
JR, Bobbie and Pam become stuck in my head.
Growing
up in the 80's, these were the images I was trying to forget. What
the heck was I doing here?
In
another room, you could watch The Soliloquy Trilogy, cool movies
with Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson and Sharon Stone.
The
films are edited so that you only see and hear the star of the film,
making for choppy, relentless and vain takes on these pop archetypes.
In
Becoming there are seven TVs, each playing a scene of popular actresses
(Neve Campbell, Reese Witherspoon, even J-Lo!).
When
you walk behind the TVs, there are seven more TVs. On each screen,
you can see Candice Breitz's cute little face as she imitates each
actress' scene as precisely as possible to a dubbed voice over.
Maybe
it's supposed to be ironic but Candice is just as cute and personable
as the movie actress! It even looks like an audition piece!
Double Karen is my favourite piece. It's a clever DVD installation
with two TVs, with Karen Carpenter edited to sing only the word
'you' on one TV and 'me' on the other.
You
can look at this video as Karen sings to herself, or you can view
the relationship
between the audience and performer, or you can simply watch TV.
Me, I simply like watching TV.
Maybe
we are all connected by familiar images that we are inundated with
and can easily shut out, but sometimes it's fun not to shut it out
and just watch.
If
you like TV and pop culture, Candice Breitz's Re-Animations at Modern
Art Oxford is worth the watch.
By
Rebekah Roy
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