Vier attracties, één kermis
Vier attracties, één kermis, is a project initiated by Das Leben am Haverkamp. Through a series of four exhibitions we explored the meaning of individual artisthood. Every week, we presented a “solo exhibition”, in which the members of the collective playfully impersonated one of the other members by creating a work and artist statement by carefully mimicking his or her working method, artistic intentions and aesthetics. Each exhibition was a solo-show, containing one ‘authentic’ work and three simulated works by the other members. We speculated what the other would make and we tried out each other’s practices as if they were costumes. In this way the visitor was getting a multi-layered introduction of the artist while the working method simultaneously desanctifies the valuable authorship of the artist and questions authenticity.
On 4 September it was my turn to have my one-day “solo exhibition” as part of the exhibition series Vier attracties, één kermis. Below you can find the documentation of it.
The project was supported by Gemeente Den Haag, photos by Temet.studio.
My name is Dewi Bekker, and I am here to play. You might think you are a reasonable grown up. I am sorry to tell you: you are not. You are as irrational, as playful, as fickle as your 6-year-old self.
Yes, you are right, you’ve built up some sort of identity. Over the years, you delicately created a story about you. A you-story shaped by thousand and one social interactions, carefully mimicking the people around you. Not to mention the attempts you made to be not like the boring others; these were formative too. Remember the plenty of short introductions about you and your life at birthday parties, after which you felt great or miserable. Or the numerous applications in which you chose the right framing to tell about your professional life. You’ve tried many outfits, haircuts – until you’d decided this one is fine for now. Congratulations on your haircut.
Every now and then you feel thrilled about this glossy you-story. My god, it sounds so coherent and true.
Today we celebrate your storytelling ability. We are playing a game. And you are about to invent the rules of this game. Everything is this room is ready to be identified, to be wrapped in one of your smooth stories. I know you can do it.
Don’t forget to actually play the game after you’ve set the rules. Please touch the brick.
The alter ego is an important theme within my practice. The changeable nature of the presented self and our tendency to constantly refine it and even wipe it completely off the table, fascinate me. The representation of the self is in my opinion an important issue in current society where identity, partly by the internet, can be shaped and judged in a blink of an eye. People perceive themselves as being a profile, a self-curated set of characteristics or an avatar. Identity is almost like a year-round performance where everyone is writing a script for the self in which the self is ambiguous depending on the situation. This curating of the self intrigues me. The way we shape our (visual) identity might cause polarisation, alienation, detachment, distance and hostility (seeing someone as a ‘thing’) but might as well cause familiarity, compassion and open up dialogue (seeing someone as a ‘human’).
Through my work I am searching for the tipping point from ‘human being’ to ‘thing’ and the roles people take on towards these opponents. I explore this by working with the human body, objects, sculptures and material/techniques like silicones, polyurethane, textile, casting, and handicrafts. This enables me to move between tactility, familiarity and alienation and to examine material in relation to the human body.
A Monument of Folly is an ode to the relation between the court jester and the alter ego. The medieval court jester and their bauble might be irrelevant in nowadays society but their dynamics and spirit isn’t. The jester openly plays different roles without masking it, is a scapegoat and a mascot at the same time and is therefore seen as unpretentious and harmless. This allows the character to speak freely, to mock and criticize, and to cross cultural, religious, political and social lines.
Hi, I'm Dewi. I like art, road cycling and beautiful plastics. I'm wearing funny socks, police pants and red lipstick. Tomorrow I may be very different from today. And you may may so too. When I talk to your mother I am someone else then when I talk to you. And you too. Whenever I'm in a different situation, I'm a different person. Does that make me less real? Or is it just fun and smart? And if my environment influences me so much, isn't my environment more me than I am myself? It's an interesting thing that people have so many different appearances. You could also call them alter egos. Everyone has an infinite number of them. Some are regulars, others only appear on the scene once. I think clothing plays a big part in this. It can be an aid to clarify and present your alter egos. You are then your alter ego together with your clothes. To the people around you, your clothes and you together are the person you are.
One alter ego of mine that is regularly revealed is my artist alter ego. It's actually there almost every day. When that time comes again, I like to make things that investigate what an alter ego exactly is. Where does it begin, and where does it end? And can you make an alter ego very precisely yourself? Even if it's just for a while.
My work revolves around the malleability of the self. The alter ego is central to my work. Using the human body, alienated everyday objects and fashion, I explore the universe of the alter egos and its complexity. Our appearance determines the identity that we reveal to the other and this may be subject to change. The changeable nature of the presented 'I' and our tendency to constantly refine it and even wipe it completely off the table, fascinate me.
A court jester, the official prankster at a monarch's court, is the perfect representation of the alter ego. Mostly jesters gave bad news and speak their mind to the King that no one else would dare to deliver or speak out. For the worst cases the jester would switch to its scepter, which stands for the alter ego of the jester or sometimes the alter ego of the King himself. The scepter could speak freely without being judged or punished.
The ten-nosed suit shows the diversity of the jester's role. His freedom of expression, prankster of the monarch’s court and representation of the common people and you.
