THE SPECTACLE 2014
25 cubes of bread were arranged in the pattern of a 5x5 magic square on the paving of the Palazzo di Duomo, Milan. The pigeons consumed the bread and flew away. The video of the process of the birds consuming the bread was shown with two of the empty crusts of bread that remained and the lens from a pair of glasses.
A spectacle could be described as a public show or display, a visually striking performance. One watching the spectacle is the spectator - let's assume that the spectator knows he is watching the spectacle, and it is something he doesn't want to do. Why does he continue to watch? Watching is generally a fairly innocuous act, if I use the word seduce however, the act and the acceptance of the act take on a different weight. Let's say the spectator is seduced by the spectacle and let's add that the spectator knows he is being seduced by the spectacle. Why then, if one is fully aware of being seduced, would one continue to accept this, and furthermore, why would one not want to move out of this role of the seducee? The existentialist philosophers Sartre and De Beauvoir describe the phenomenon of Bad Faith - where a human being under pressure from societal forces adopts false values and disowns his/her innate freedom to act authentically, claiming that individuals are always free to make choices regardless of the situation, and it is only in assuming social roles and value systems external to one’s true nature that one can pretend that these possibilities are denied, essentially subordinating oneself so as to be protected from being morally accountable.
Bread crusts, Sunglass Lens, iPad Air, 3 min video. Dimensions Variable.
THE SPECTACLE Photographic print on Hahnemühle photo paper 420mmx594mm
