You All Fell For My Act
Images circulate rapidly and behind the computer the whole world is a voyeur.
The exhibition You All Fell For My Act, explores the power of the lens.
There are currently many possibilities to showcase yourself to large audiences – your images being received through vast global networks. And so, the Internet has become a podium at everyone’s disposal, where images circulate rapidly and behind the computer the whole world is a voyeur.
Kalup Linzy uses stereotypes and clichés taken from the soap operas he grew up with to create camp parodies. There is a selection of performance artist Jamie Warren’s humorous and theatrical self-portraits in different scenarios. The strong performative character of Renée van Trier’s work is concerned with the variability of identity in artificial worlds and the tension between real and pretended behaviour. Mark Callahan lets us dwell on the phenomena of fame, voyeurism and entertainment. He took a popular YouTube film of Miss Carolina during 2007’s Miss America, and by stretching it over 24 hours, transformed her superficial response into something of epic proportions.
The artists in this exhibition express themselves from the position of outsider, critical of prevailing norms, and looking at the way the public deal with these rules. The iconic photo of the recently arrested Ai Wei Wei shows how the artist makes a political statement by sending a self-portrait via the internet to the world. Evan Baden explores images of young women who upload their self-made bedroom portraits to the Internet, by photographically restaging them. Kim Nuijen simply asks the public to look at her camera, and in doing so she describes the moment when people become aware of the lens.
The exhibition You All Fell For My Act has been produced and curated by the second intake of participants of MAMA’s Rookies MA. Through the Rookies MA program, aspiring young curators are given the opportunity to realize and create an exhibition from conception to completion.
In addition to the exhibition You All Fell For My Act the Rookies MA present in collaboration with Wes Westenburger (NL, 1981) Wes and Mama’s Quartet of Queer Experiences. This project is part of World of Witte de With international arts festival and runs from 9 -11 September 2011. For more info check:
www.festivalwww.nl
Curated by Benjamin Li, Jesse van Oosten, Kyra de Boer, Naomi Oosterman en Thomas Molenaar met bijdrage van Ai Weiwei, Evan Baden, Jaimie Warren, Kalup Linzy , Kim Nuijen, Mark Callahan, and Renée van Trier
About HOME
HOME is the leitmotiv by which we encourage conversation about conceptions regarding belonging, representation and identification. HOME is a fundament, the place you return to and anchorpoint for the journey onward. HOME (offline as well as online) is the start of feeling connect to others. Under the name HOME we also present exhibitions in the showroom of MAMA. In collaboration with young makers we express interpretations about HOME | IN REAL LIFE | NETWORKS.
