The Frantic Desire For Almost Real
Curatorial Essay
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It is the displaced body that suffers the most from feelings of nostalgia, and questions established notions of authenticity. The Frantic Desire for Almost Real presents new work from Chicago-based artists Bryan LeBeuf and Gericault De La Rose, exploring connections between identity, collective memory and authenticity.
In his Travels In Hyperreality, Umberto Eco wrote “the frantic desire for Almost Real arises only as a neurotic reaction to the vacuum of memories.”(1) The experience of displacement is frequently accompanied by a sense of loss toward memories of a place that is not anymore — or never was — one’s own. In a constant effort to mediate between the local and the global, the displaced body lives in balance between a sense of longing and belonging. This yearning for lost memories of a distant home is what we define as nostalgia, from the Greek νόστος (home) and ἄλγος (pain).
Svetlana Boym, author of The Future of Nostalgia, identifies and defines two types of nostalgia. “Restorative nostalgia” is the nationalist longing for a past that is idealized as authentic and therefore desirable. On the other hand, “reflective nostalgia” represents the intersection between individual and cultural memory, an act of “meditation on history and passage of time.”(2) Where restorative nostalgia aims to rebuild the past, reflective nostalgia indulges in a sentiment of enamorment for something that is no more. It is the later type of nostalgia that is of interest in the context of this exhibition.(3)
The apprehension that comes from feelings of nostalgia corresponds to this longing for lost or nonexistent memories. The displaced body is constantly in search of cultural memories as a way to affirm one’s identity, the Real. This process however is complicated by the inconsistent relationship between reality, perception and the concept of authenticity. Real is a fixed identity that only exists as an ideal condition of the self. Almost Real is the true definition of identity, an ever changing transitional liminal space in-between fixed designations, as described by Homi K. Bhabha.(4) In a vacuum of memories, the Almost Real is frantically desired by the displaced body.
Colonialist(5) practices of categorization of non-western cultures into fixed frameworks of social practices have affirmed the perception that cultural identity remains unvaried over time. Consequently, the conventional definition of the authentic derives from a colonial approach to cultures. From a pure semantical standpoint, the authentic is “what conforms to fact and therefore worthy of trust.”(6) In relation to cultural practices, the quality of authenticity is assigned through a collective social process. Authenticity is established by any one - individual, community or entity - that is collectively recognized as the bearer of agency over a certain matter. However, colonialism has historically misplaced agency, assigning the definition of authentic in relation to non-western cultures not to their own communities, but rather to western social and anthropological studies.
Culture is not simply “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”.(7) It is also the whole of those customs and beliefs and their transformation throughout history. Culture is dynamic, identity is in fieri. Faced with the complexity of a cultural identity constantly in flux and a false perception of the authentic, the displaced body struggles to grasp a stable definition of the self and therefore plunges into a nostalgic search of the authentic. It is this displaced body, grappling with notions of identity, collective memory and authenticity, that is at the core of the artists’ work in this exhibition.
The work of Gericault De La Rose represents the discovering of one’s identity from the point of view of such a body. The performance Expedition Through the Authentic: Resist Imprint guides the audience through the complexities of the deconstruction and reconstruction of cultural identity. De La Rose attempts to decode her childhood as an Asian American and recontextualize it into the Filipinxao culture of her displaced parents. The artist questions the validity of cultural practices that are deemed ostensibly authentic. The Philippines represent a complex reality of more than 1000 islands, with multiple ethnic groups suppressed into one monolithic culture by the Spanish colonization (XVI-XIX century).
What is it then that should be considered authentic? Is it the pre-colonial Filipinxao culture? Or the practices that exist as forced results of historic happenings? With the video installation Remnant, De La Rose acknowledges once again the problematic use of the label of authentic, presenting to viewers the embodiment of culture in flux. In this work, the Santo Niño – the catholic figure of baby Jesus – becomes a Bulol – a rice god, from the pagan rituals of pre-colonial Philippines. In a continued loop of transformation, the separation between these two symbols of religious rituals that belonged to the Filipinxao culture, at different times in history, begins to blur to the point that its origin is untraceable.
De La Rose’s work exposes complexities of her transgender idenitiy. In Ima Real™ Diamond, the viewer is unable to distinguish differences between a real and a synthetic diamond. Two elements with the same molecular components, yet assigned with different commercial values by social norms. The tension between transgender and cisgender identity is here materialized into the socially-constructed relationship between authentic and almost real.
Displacement is not only the condition of a body that has been forced out of their original place. It is also the condition of the environment(8) changing around a body, without its active participation. The work of artist Bryan LeBeuf speaks to this condition, looking in particular to the collective effects of displacement on Detroit communities. His new work, Beechwood, draws parallels between abandoned virtual spaces and the physical world. Svetlana Boym suggested that virtual spaces have the potential to visually express the effects of nostalgia and collective memory over physical spaces.(9) Globalism has influenced virtual spaces into a process of urbanization that mimics reality – from the creation of a community to its displacement. LeBeuf’s work exposes this process and weighs on the potential of community ownership over abandoned spaces. He approaches the topic of identity from a community standpoint. Through collective memory, displaced communities reflect on a shared sense of nostalgia that sustains the desire to rebuild and restore Detroit. Collective memory however is faulty and nebulous. It fuels a communal frantic desire for an Almost Real that never materializes.
With the lightbox installation Untitled, the artist translates back into the real-world views of those same virtual spaces, physically creating a connection between the public and the online community in the gallery space. The boundaries of reality are blurred away by a process that layers visual translations of the same subject into different platforms and formats, once again representing that inconsistent relationship between reality and perception that complicates the process of self identification. Similarly, the blurriness of memories is rendered by the print Schoolcraft & Vaughn where the artist introduces us to a glimpse of his past, the details of which remain uncertain, the same way our mind often fails to remember the outline of a distant reality.
The work of Bryan LeBeuf and Gericault De La Rose presented in The Frantic Desire for Almost Real stand as representation of the complexities faced by a displaced body — may this be an individual or a community — whose desire is to affirm their identity. Constantly fluctuating between longing and belonging, the subject of this neurotic research fails to recognize that the unbalanced, unsteady Almost Real is in fact the expression of one’s identity.
In his Travels In Hyperreality, Umberto Eco wrote “the frantic desire for Almost Real arises only as a neurotic reaction to the vacuum of memories.”(1) The experience of displacement is frequently accompanied by a sense of loss toward memories of a place that is not anymore — or never was — one’s own. In a constant effort to mediate between the local and the global, the displaced body lives in balance between a sense of longing and belonging. This yearning for lost memories of a distant home is what we define as nostalgia, from the Greek νόστος (home) and ἄλγος (pain).
Svetlana Boym, author of The Future of Nostalgia, identifies and defines two types of nostalgia. “Restorative nostalgia” is the nationalist longing for a past that is idealized as authentic and therefore desirable. On the other hand, “reflective nostalgia” represents the intersection between individual and cultural memory, an act of “meditation on history and passage of time.”(2) Where restorative nostalgia aims to rebuild the past, reflective nostalgia indulges in a sentiment of enamorment for something that is no more. It is the later type of nostalgia that is of interest in the context of this exhibition.(3)
The apprehension that comes from feelings of nostalgia corresponds to this longing for lost or nonexistent memories. The displaced body is constantly in search of cultural memories as a way to affirm one’s identity, the Real. This process however is complicated by the inconsistent relationship between reality, perception and the concept of authenticity. Real is a fixed identity that only exists as an ideal condition of the self. Almost Real is the true definition of identity, an ever changing transitional liminal space in-between fixed designations, as described by Homi K. Bhabha.(4) In a vacuum of memories, the Almost Real is frantically desired by the displaced body.
Colonialist(5) practices of categorization of non-western cultures into fixed frameworks of social practices have affirmed the perception that cultural identity remains unvaried over time. Consequently, the conventional definition of the authentic derives from a colonial approach to cultures. From a pure semantical standpoint, the authentic is “what conforms to fact and therefore worthy of trust.”(6) In relation to cultural practices, the quality of authenticity is assigned through a collective social process. Authenticity is established by any one - individual, community or entity - that is collectively recognized as the bearer of agency over a certain matter. However, colonialism has historically misplaced agency, assigning the definition of authentic in relation to non-western cultures not to their own communities, but rather to western social and anthropological studies.
Culture is not simply “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”.(7) It is also the whole of those customs and beliefs and their transformation throughout history. Culture is dynamic, identity is in fieri. Faced with the complexity of a cultural identity constantly in flux and a false perception of the authentic, the displaced body struggles to grasp a stable definition of the self and therefore plunges into a nostalgic search of the authentic. It is this displaced body, grappling with notions of identity, collective memory and authenticity, that is at the core of the artists’ work in this exhibition.
The work of Gericault De La Rose represents the discovering of one’s identity from the point of view of such a body. The performance Expedition Through the Authentic: Resist Imprint guides the audience through the complexities of the deconstruction and reconstruction of cultural identity. De La Rose attempts to decode her childhood as an Asian American and recontextualize it into the Filipinxao culture of her displaced parents. The artist questions the validity of cultural practices that are deemed ostensibly authentic. The Philippines represent a complex reality of more than 1000 islands, with multiple ethnic groups suppressed into one monolithic culture by the Spanish colonization (XVI-XIX century).
What is it then that should be considered authentic? Is it the pre-colonial Filipinxao culture? Or the practices that exist as forced results of historic happenings? With the video installation Remnant, De La Rose acknowledges once again the problematic use of the label of authentic, presenting to viewers the embodiment of culture in flux. In this work, the Santo Niño – the catholic figure of baby Jesus – becomes a Bulol – a rice god, from the pagan rituals of pre-colonial Philippines. In a continued loop of transformation, the separation between these two symbols of religious rituals that belonged to the Filipinxao culture, at different times in history, begins to blur to the point that its origin is untraceable.
De La Rose’s work exposes complexities of her transgender idenitiy. In Ima Real™ Diamond, the viewer is unable to distinguish differences between a real and a synthetic diamond. Two elements with the same molecular components, yet assigned with different commercial values by social norms. The tension between transgender and cisgender identity is here materialized into the socially-constructed relationship between authentic and almost real.
Displacement is not only the condition of a body that has been forced out of their original place. It is also the condition of the environment(8) changing around a body, without its active participation. The work of artist Bryan LeBeuf speaks to this condition, looking in particular to the collective effects of displacement on Detroit communities. His new work, Beechwood, draws parallels between abandoned virtual spaces and the physical world. Svetlana Boym suggested that virtual spaces have the potential to visually express the effects of nostalgia and collective memory over physical spaces.(9) Globalism has influenced virtual spaces into a process of urbanization that mimics reality – from the creation of a community to its displacement. LeBeuf’s work exposes this process and weighs on the potential of community ownership over abandoned spaces. He approaches the topic of identity from a community standpoint. Through collective memory, displaced communities reflect on a shared sense of nostalgia that sustains the desire to rebuild and restore Detroit. Collective memory however is faulty and nebulous. It fuels a communal frantic desire for an Almost Real that never materializes.
With the lightbox installation Untitled, the artist translates back into the real-world views of those same virtual spaces, physically creating a connection between the public and the online community in the gallery space. The boundaries of reality are blurred away by a process that layers visual translations of the same subject into different platforms and formats, once again representing that inconsistent relationship between reality and perception that complicates the process of self identification. Similarly, the blurriness of memories is rendered by the print Schoolcraft & Vaughn where the artist introduces us to a glimpse of his past, the details of which remain uncertain, the same way our mind often fails to remember the outline of a distant reality.
The work of Bryan LeBeuf and Gericault De La Rose presented in The Frantic Desire for Almost Real stand as representation of the complexities faced by a displaced body — may this be an individual or a community — whose desire is to affirm their identity. Constantly fluctuating between longing and belonging, the subject of this neurotic research fails to recognize that the unbalanced, unsteady Almost Real is in fact the expression of one’s identity.
Notes
- Umberto Eco, Travels in Hyperreality, William Weaver, trans. (New York: MBJ, 1986), 30.
- Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books, 2001.
- From this point, the term nostalgia should be read as reflective nostalgia.
- Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture. Routledge, New York, 2004.
- It is important to acknowledge that in this context the term colonialism represents the sum of definitions that resulted from conversations between the curator and the artists, during the development of the exhibition. Each individual relates to aspects of colonialism that differ and complement each other, depending on the person’s background and personal history. In the context of this exhibition, colonialism represents historical practices of oppression on the otherness, that continue in present times.
- The definition of authentic and authenticity are taken from The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language.
- The definition of culture is taken from The Cambridge Dictionary online.
- The definition of environment is taken from The Cambridge Dictionary online. (a) The air, water, and land in or on which people, animals, and plants live; (b) the conditions that you live or work in and the way that they influence how you feel or how effectively you can work.
- See Archeology of Metropolis in Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books, 2001, pp. 75-82.
Bibliography
- Homi K. Bhabha, The Location of Culture. Routledge, New York, 2004.
- Laura Raicovich, A Cookbook That Relishes the Impure and Adulterated. Hyperallergic. August 19, 2019 https://hyperallergic.com/513516/bastard-cookbook-antto-melasniemi-rirkrit-tiravanija/
- Siemon Allen, Fatma Charfi, A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad. St. Louis, Mo. : Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis ; New York : D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers [distributor], c2003.
- Svetlana Boym, The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books, 2001.
- Kimbra L. Smith, Practically Invisible: Coastal Ecuador, Tourism, and the Politics of Authenticity. Vanderbilt University Press, Nashville, 2015.