ME, MYSELF AND I
C. C. Montehermoso. Vitoria-Gasteiz, March 2003.
Me, myself, I... "First me, then me, and last but not least...Me": This well known proverb about one's ego, about egotism and being self-centred, is the Spanish equivalent to the English "Me, Myself and I" that Gaüeca (Bilbao, 1967), has chosen as title for his new photographic series. In it, and for the first time in his career, the artist becomes the model and the character who plays all the roles. he has decided to use himself as a symbol of the artist as irresponsibly indivudualistic, narcissistic and self-complacent, traits that seem to be unavoidable in the present climate. This series, "Me, Myself and I", is an open critique to that egotistical "Me" that refuses to acknowledge the Other. A narcissistic self that designs himself following its own capricious wishes, unquestioned, unwilling to explore and to look a t itself in the mirror, pleased to blend not with its own inner vision, but with a model imposed from the outside. This subject, for Gaüeca, is a constant presence that characterizes the present time, both our society and the cultural production it encourages to create. But in particular, this series is aimed at the current Art world.
In Me, Myself and I, he offers a revision of categories such as Art and the artist: What's Art's and the artist's role in today's climate? Whom do they serve? How does an artist achieve success? What is the stuff that sells? What strategies are being introduced to achieve all those? In his current work, the artist uses the strategies and formal resources found in Advertising and the media to question the Art work in terms of cultural product. Gaüeca deconstructs the iconographies used in Advertising as well as in Contemporary Art. He invites us to question the many ideologies, disguised as modernity, the contents hidden under the image, everything, in one word, that this flux of communication generates. He is particularly keen on highlighting the social, the sexual, the political issues at stake in their contents. He is also warning us in his work how all this process of transmission of ideologies gets channeled through the most innocent media, often thought of as the most alternative: Fashion, music... How these are also a vehicle for the manipulative strategies of industries interested only in the growth of the economy.
Advertising is a medium particularly worrying in the eyes of Gaüeca: As a medium that generates growth and expansion, and because of the complex social network supported by the hyper-capitalist paradigms we live in at the beginning of this Millennium. Societies drowned in a sea of Advertising messages, of brands. As a part of this new landscape, so well described by Naomi Klein in her book No Logo, Advertising has achieved an enormous state of development, becoming the media shuttle par excellence. The need to find innovative ways within the strategies of advertising, and to renew its formal language, have started a new era in which the media are quite happy to appropriate processes traditionally used by Art in its pursue of "The Sublime". Advertising, too, both as foundation and as metaphor for today's world, is subject more and more used by current artists as worth of looking into. It is both something that is worth studying and also used as a way of promotion. In this process, even a concept such as that of the artist is going through unparalleled changes. Trapped in ultra-liberal economic conditions, the artist must also be his/her own press office, his/her own public relations. This is so true that even in some significant Art Schools, subjects such us how to market oneself are part of the curriculum. But, what does an Artist sell? I think it is the artist him/herself who is on sale and therefore, the marketable good: His/her body and mind are on sale to the biggest bidder. Just like any other workers of his/her generation, the artist is a Jack of all trades, he/she is open 24/7: he/she is selling an accomplished, all rounder service, he is selling his/her own will to serve. In "Self Portrait as a Fountain", Gaüeca uses that well known self-portrait by Nauman to denounce the unashamed narcissism that is rife in some circles of the New Art. certain aesthetics and an attitude where the most important thing is to promote a name that will enable us to become more succesful, sexier, if only we allow it to enter out lifestyles, our homes, like a parfum. The artist, too, pleases his/her own ego too by presenting him/herself with the iconic status of a Hollywood star, as a rock star adored by multitudes.
"I am a Picture of a Picture of a Picture" is another work that hints at this game of different identities, using the image of a Russian doll.
The artist reminds us of the many layers of skin under ourselves, that we, onion-like, accumulate in the process of becoming social creatures. These layers bond us to others as well as separate us. The artist knows that he is hiding under all this social conventions we adopt to live in this world. In "Petronio", Gaüeca mocks these middle-class customs, the absurd, arbitrary nature of things such as manners and well breeding. Social mores that judge, for example, what is "chic": who imposes those values, and what for? "Petronio" might as well be a caricature of the current artist. Who is Petronio? Is he/it the artist himself, or is his pet rat? In fact, don't all pets end up resembling their masters?
"I am Two Landscapes", "Nobody Knows My Dad Died Yesterday", "Black Rope Artist", "Higher and Higher", talk about the fragility of the contemporary subject, the constant juggling that is identity. Double personalities, our different sides shown in different contexts, that force us to please, to show that we are part of our social sphere. In clear contrast to current trends, these works denounces our obsession with youth, beauty, happiness, with people with no burdens, and highlights the kind of emotions that models must hide in order to appear in an advertising campaign.
Because Fashion is another important subject in Gaüeca's work: "Nobody Knows This is Only Fashion" and "Nobody Knows I Have a Rainbow Just for You", deals with the so called youth culture or alternative cultures constituted in the 90's, when sports trainers became its symbol. Playing with such iconic symbols of social and cultural status, the artist directs our gaze towards the critical aspects of these alternative lifestyles: What are the real differences between an Adidas shoe and a Gucci handbag? What is the real difference between a so called "alternative" magazine and a mainstream one, since they both survivor thanks to paid Advertising? Can a lifestyle be called alternative, when it is based in its consumption of unnecessary goods and signs of status? Is a rap star independent, alternative, when he actually wears Nikes bought in yet another shopping mall? What is the ideology behind all these cultural products, those that allegedly are "the new"? What is the place of women in all these minorities, these "alternative" lifestyles?
In his zest for studying our present, Gaüeca pays special attention to social class. In his work "Nobody knows I am Working Class", he denounces the importance of appearances. How a dated Victorian class prejudice is still alive in our society . About the glamour that wealth still has for all of us, and how those who have succeeded in making it up the social ladder, painstakingly try to disguise their humble origins. He points at the fact that class struggle is out of fashion, at least as a strategy to eradicate injustice, but nothing, so far, has replaced the void left by its demise. In "Nobody Knows They are Here", Gaüeca spoofs these aristocratic, feudal customs still present in our society, disguised but alive in it. Isn't the toll paid for the use of a private motorway very much like the medieval custom of paying a toll for going through a land owner's lands? How do we explain the fact that in the XXI century, the most exclusive urban areas live door to door with shanty towns?
"Me, Myself and I" is a mirror hall that shows us our own vanity, our fears, our tensions those that the contemporary subject tries to hide behind a multitude of identities. Identities of perfection, of the perfect consumer subject, while questioning the role that contemporary Art plays in the construction and consolidation of these identities. Art that is no different from and Italian designer handbag, that represents taste and economical power? Shouldn't the artist, as Levi-Strauss said, be a bricoleur and a scientist? Shouldn't Art be a tool to reveal the occult symbols in our imaginary collective, instead of just consolidating all the meanings whose role is to reassure and to construct the status quo? "Me, Myself and I" is an excellent vehicle to reflect in all these questions, to ponder about Art's and the artist's role today, but also to think about what kind of society we are building, which kind of society we want to live in.
Xabier Arakistain. Art curator.
