Using It

Robert Lendrum, Jasmine Valentina and ArtStars* are using it. "It" being an exaggerated version of oneself, unpolished absurdity, and access to an ever-expanding audience via the Internet. Definitely less glamorous than actors of the silver screen, these self-deprecating personae of the computer screen can be viewed from the comfort of your own home. And if you are not interested you can simply navigate away from the page.

Robert Lendrum uses the results of an online identity profile, administered by a third party research company, as the point of departure for his video self-portrait Dudes. The outcome is a series of micro-skits that centre on a caricature of the artist as played by a hired actress. Recorded on a sparse sketch-comedy-style backdrop, the video pokes fun at and re-enacts Lendrum's "pronounced traits in situations with only heterosexual men" as observed by others. Jasmine Valentina appears introspectively in drag as Harold in her YouTube video, I "Love" Harold, Pilot Episode . Harold, a self-proclaimed sissy, struggles with current ideas concerning gender identity. As the son of a radical, second-wave feminist, Harold is contemplative but secure enough with his own sexuality to forgo machismo for embroidery and Dolly Parton. Nadja Sayej, the outrageous host and gonzo reporter of ArtStars*, operates as entertainer and critic. Armed with fearless sass, a microphone and a killer rack, Sayej relentlessly and aggressively interjects herself at art events to expose art world pretensions and rituals on ArtStars* video blog and Facebook page.

Growing up as "digital natives" (those born between the late 1970s and early 2000s, the first generation weaned on personal computers and the Internet), these artists and their peer audience's conceptions of privacy and self tend to differ from those of previous generations. Lendrum, Valentina and Sayej provide online users with voyeuristic glimpses of reckless disclosures and calculated presentations of themselves. The gender-bending characters in these videos are comically exaggerated and steeped in pop culture references. Such devices allow us, the viewers, to recognize the characters and audit ourselves and our ideologies through them, or at least to project the personal qualities represented onto someone we know.

In Dudes, Lendrum creates distance between himself and the participants by hiring a third party to disseminate and interpret the survey via email. Leaving the respondents the possibility of both candid and bogus answers, Lendrum hands over control of his likeness to friends, family, colleagues and lovers. The result is a skewed video rendering of the artist's physical, subjective, and social identity performed by a skilled a stand-in, Jacqueline van de Geer. "He" drinks beer, hangs out with the guys, and talks about pussy, all while wearing a rather chic neck scarf. He is "a dude even though he's an artist". Facebook and dating sites such as eHarmony link up users according to vague personal information such as common likes and dislikes generated by pre-programmed systems like that employed by Lendrum. This impersonal classification blurs the line between the "projected" and "perceived" self.

Valentina projects her third-wave feminist ideals onto her alter ego, Harold. Addressing gender identity with humour and kitsch, Harold references art and feminist and gay icons of the past, such as Judy Chicago, the Red Stockings and Lucille Ball. By borrowing mannerisms and events from her second-wave predecessors, Valentina removes her physical self from the equation and blurs the line between truth and fiction. Harold is an odd mash-up but his familiar and entertaining traits entice the viewer to stay tuned, much like the mock-u-mentaries and satires that have taken over the media landscape of YouTube. Valentina goes so far as to set up a Facebook profile for Harold Courtney Brown. Within this profile, Harold and Jasmine's Relationship Status is characterized as "It's Complicated".

Sayej's relationship with the schmoozey side of the art world is complicated too. Sayej is on a quest to squash art world exclusivity. She scoffs at the system that supports her. Her onscreen appearance mirrors her personality: loud, proud and campy. An experienced journalist, Sayej is also ironic and self-aware. In the opening of Episode 30: Kriistina Lahde, Sayej tells us that good journalists don't interview people they don't like, and she "doesn't like this bitch." Sayej and her crew highjack a gallery opening. She bombards the artist with questions pertaining to her art, only to gag the artist's response with an "artspeak" graphic acting as a censor beep. Episode 29: Kelly Mark, illustrates how viral online content can be. Within an hour of posting the episode, Artstars* was summoned to remove the original and replace it with an edited version approved by the artist. Image is everything; in Episode 30: General Idea, Sayej mocks the remount of a ground-breaking 1984 General Idea exhibition and the iconic artists' collective as "boring," "bad" and unsuitable for anyone born after 1980.

In the arena of the World Wide Web people are continuously posting and gathering information. The beauty of uploading is the freedom to self-publish. There are no juries or hierarchies unless you count the number of hits your blog receives. The exhibited works are segmented, not relating necessarily one to the next. The quick and dirty production quality, reminiscent of video artists of the 1970s, mimics the constant flow of disposable information that we view and forward online.

Jennifer Simaitis, Curator



Published on the occasion of the exhibition Using It: ArtStars*, Lendrum, Valentina, held at MSVU Art Gallery, 14 August through 17 October 2010.

© MSVU Art Gallery in the publication and the authors in their text, 2010.


Mount Saint Vincent University
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3M 2J6

All Rights Reserved

Illustrations: screen shots courtesy of the artists
Design: Jennifer Simaitis
Web formatting: Daniel Espeset
Photography of installation: Stefan Hancherow

ISBN 978-1-894518-57-4