Popdolls
Press release
It is clear that Smit enjoyed working on her installation Poppy Dolls and also that she put a lot of venom into it. In this installation, consisting of a video and nine record covers, we see Smit as a rock idol. The video shows us the artist singing with a guitar, perfectly styled and very convincing in her role. When she comes on stage in her tiny red outfit, she tests the microphone by sighing into it slowly. ‘I’ll be your slave, the master is you’, she sings, while ruffling the hair of a sexy-looking young man. The accompanying record covers suggest a career in music which has been thriving for quite some time. The clip and the record covers are obviously commenting on the state of rock television. The democratisation of the medium is well underway; “ordinary” people are the stars of this age. It is clear that Smit has included this field in her investigation. The record covers give us a glimpse into the life of this celebrity, a life in which joy and sorrow are also present, just as in the lives of ordinary people. There is no doubt that Smit is interested in the position into which our visual culture has gradually manoeuvred itself – the democratisation of the concept of fame and the fact that women always want to match up to the “ideal” image in order to please men. |
The strange thing is that again and again the image they create of themselves becomes the standard for the men who look at the women and judge them. Western culture has thus ended up in a curious loop. Smit offers resistance to this phenomenon: she looks back. For example, in the record cover “Now” we see this happening explicitly. When we look at the picture what we see in particular is an eye, magnified by a magnifying glass. The eye is looking at us – and whether we want to look or not, our attention is immediately drawn to that eye. But all we see is an eye which reflects our gaze. The other record covers also contain subversive elements. There is more going on than we see at first glance. Looking and being looked at have always played an important role in Smit’s work. In addition to the installation Poppy Dolls there are also several other works by Pépé Smit on display in the gallery. For example, a dark photograph hangs on a tiled wall like a bathroom mirror. The picture is not immediately visible. As soon as we approach the photograph to take a closer look there is a flash of light.
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