Married is the new black. Or at least that’s what it felt like at Ms & Mr’s opening on Friday night. Art Tart spent most of the evening talking weddings with two recently engaged (male) gallerinas. As a 25 year old divorcee, it felt weird discussing diamond rings in the middle of an exhibition based largely on marriage, destiny and the poetics of long-term relationships. I grabbed a 25th anniversary sticker, stuck it to my bike and peddled speedily home.
But the reassuring exhibition title, There there anxious future, brought me back. And it got me thinking about some of the really interesting concepts in Ms & Mr’s work. The title personifies “the future”, inferring that time is an entity to be coaxed, controlled and bent to suit your own desired narratives. In the case of Ms & Mr, the desired narrative is the artificial extension of the couple’s shared history through “retroactive collaborations”. The works on show are rich combinations of their former and future selves, suggesting that distinctions between the past, present and future are illusionary. This unique approach to time and personal identity is very appealing and extends well beyond the bounds of relationship politics. It offers everybody immense freedom in self-creation.
The videos are slow, beautiful and brilliantly installed: LCD screens are affixed to hollow triangular prisms with retro-reflective interiors. The futuristic sculptural supports function both as plinths and objects in their own right. Check it out before the exhibition closes on 15 August 2009.
[...] Further comments on the experience of viewing the works in this show can be read here and here. [...]