Amalia Ulman. Excellences & Perfections

Do You Follow? Art in Circulation, copresented in London by Rhizome and the ICA
on 17 October 2014

The video above shows artist AMALIA ULMAN discussing her project Excellences & Perfections last week as part of Do You Follow? Art in Circulation, a series of talks copresented in London by Rhizome and the ICA.

Excellences & Perfections is a fascinating performance, actually a social media performance which started in April 2014 via ULMAN‘s instagram and facebook profiles and which lasted till September 2014. During these couple of months, ‘she allowed her profiles to be exactly what social media seems to demand—that she be a “Hot Babe.” As part of this project, she underwent an extreme, semi-fictionalized makeover: she pretended to have a breast augmentation, posting images of herself in a hospital gown and with a bandaged chest, using a padded bra and Photoshop to manipulate her image. (…) ULMANs Instagram account is a parade of carefully arranged flowers and expensive lingerie and highly groomed interiors and perfectly plated brunches‘*.

As an active instagram user,  I followed AMALIA ULMAN and I unfollowed her in July 2014 after thinking that she had probably lost her mind (!). Of course, Instagram, like all social media, is about presenting a carefully chosen version of yourself, but what’s very interesting about this performance, is to see how social media have blurred our old logic of authenticity, and finally how it keep us tied to clichés.

➝ Excellences & Perfections is presented as part of First Look, the ongoing series of digital projects co-curated and copresented by Rhizome and the New Museum (on view here). Additionally I really recommend you to catch in person her solo exhibition The Destruction of Experience which is currently on view at Evelyn Yard in London through November 13th.

*from rhizome



comments are closed !