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. Growing up in the 80's, these were the images I was trying to forget.
What the heck was I doing here? | | 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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