New ICA’s group exhibition, “Looks”, can be seen as a temple to digitised and synthetically enhanced humanism, where identities and their bodily expressions grow and morph within the matrix of endless online information. Identities no longer exist without the consumer, without a comment or without an online habitat they can live within. This new world enables public performance of identity–an identity no longer controllable by one’s self, but determined and organised by facts beyond one’s scope. The human body and its expression of identity are no longer linked.
Sculptures, paintings, videos, photographs and objects presented in “Looks” interact with each other and coincide throughout the gallery space. Formally very distant, they appear to be in constant posthuman dialogue with each other.
“A day in the life of bliss”, a 2-channel film by Wu Tsang, exists in a near-future, science-fiction setting bathed in neon and made of online avatars and personas; the atmosphere of an underground futuristic nightclub with mirrored surfaces reflecting projected imagery floats somewhere between documentary and fiction. Installed in the ICA upper galleries, “A day in the life of bliss” explores issues of sexuality, identity, marginalised subcultures and the narratives that construct them. In the video, it’s 2017 and the society is regulated and monitored by invisible bass frequencies and social media avatars that are challenged and combated by the celebrity figure BLISS (played by performance artist Boychild). Wu Tsang looks at the issues of marginalisation, queer and trans narrative, posthuman body politics and searches for personal identities; how these issues have been transformed by the technology dominated contemporary life and social media is a key focus.
The issue of the posthuman body is particularily present in Juliette Bonneviot’s “Xenoestrogens“. Seven monochromatic paintings–seemingly representative of abstract expressionism–surround the visitor from all angles and confront with their boldness and slightly terrifying confidence. Closer encounter reveals that each of these paintings is a careful composition of both natural pigment sources and compounds containing types of xenoestrogen. Xenoestrogens are most famously found in birth control pills, silicones, lacquers, pesticides, detergents, lotions, shampoos, PVC, food colouring and recycled plastic; they are believed to disrupt the endocrine system of mammals by mimicking effects of estrogen, and potentially influencing gender and behaviour. This investigation into gender and ecology seems to provide an exploration of the hidden life and power of the chemical and its biological, cultural and philosophical implications. As our bodies are enhanced and altered by a chemical, a technological device, a prosthetic device, they create new forms of being- once seen only in science fiction.
Andrea Crespo’s “Parabiosis–Neurolibidinal Induction Complex”–occupies the space next door. Crespo’s dark-toned video with glowing UV scanning lines running across the screen tells a story of mental pathology and personality issues through protagonists Celinde and Cynthia, seemingly schizophrenic, hyper-real transgender manga characters. Sis is a system which plays a crucial role in this work: it is a technologised organism that lives within embodied networks of information and enables Crespo’s characters to exist. Production of identities, thoughts, moods, emotions and interests expressed through online avatars is not a new phenomenon; in Crespo’s work, however, Sis exceeds into a system which becomes an identity itself, a schizophrenic compound of selves.
The lower gallery space is occupied by two artists: Stewart Uoo and Morag Keil. Morag Keil explores the issue of identity in the post-internet age, as well as the body and its relationship to the sociopolitical structure. “Leg1” is a new video work presenting an Amy Winehouse tattoo on an anonymous limb, whereas “Untitled” creates an intimate dialogue between the viewer and a banal Instagram feed. Both works seem to create an image of a metropolitan female identity affected by social media and popular culture.
Identity and gender in Uoo’s works seem to be situated at the intersection of fantasy, erotic performance and advertising. Identity is seen as passé and, in Uoo’s world, the post-human doctrine takes over. Two female dystopian cyborg-mannequins are burned and spill their entrails – cables and wires. They reveal hints of their identities, which are inspired by the Ghetto Goth and Boho girl looks, so ubiquitous online. These are juxtaposed with Uoo’s new carpet work, which depicts a cover of a Cosmo Girl magazine. Words of sexual or emotional embarrassment and pleads for advice are perfectly woven into a gigantic rug, presenting yet another vector for turning one’s troubled teenage identity into a clichéd but entertaining mockery.
In “Looks”, gender, identity and the human body are like hallucinatory flashbacks to a world that may have already ended. Bodies are enhanced or reshaped by synthetic substances; identities are over-edited, commented on and no longer natural, but still dependant on the speed of one’s wi-fi. Everything is a part of social exchanges – everything is networked, developing and morphing in constant flux. Social, technological and cultural forces shape the contemporary self; identity and brand blend. This new system could be seen as having a negative impact on humans, but is also presented as a tool enabling one with endless freedom of choices and fluidity of identity and gender.
Text by Agnes Gryczkowska
‘Looks’ is now showing at the ICA until 21 June 2015
More: Playing Games At Centre Pompidou’s Nouveau Festival
More: Art As Food, Food As Art: Lucy Tomlins and George Little at Bosse & Baum