Michael Elmgreen brings the world-renowned artistic vision of Elmgreen and Dragset to Bangkok
Written by Writer on Monday, September 15th, 2008
ARTthrough IRONY
Michael Elmgreen brings the world-renowned artistic vision of Elmgreen and Dragset to Bangkok
Story by SAMILA WENIN
There was little intended irony when Michael Elmgreen taunted art-school students who possessed a romantic idea that they would be accepted as artists by offering the public art that is personal and honest.
“It can be sh** art anyway,” said Elmgreen mockingly.
“You’d better have some interesting feelings if you’re going to put them into the world. Art is communication and my art is about how I mediate my feelings, but I’ve learned to have feelings that are relevant for the public and not my own private emotional bullsh** that is not interesting.”
Of course you’d never spot the irony unless you spent at least half an hour talking about art, city life or Bangkok’s cultural scene with Elmgreen, one half of the world-renowned, Berlin-based Nordic artistic duo Elmgreen and Dragset, who visited Bangkok last week for the installing and opening of the Ballantine’s-sponsored art exhibition “Dislocated Oriental”. As the conversation progressed, it was pretty obvious that there’s a striking similarity between those provoking installation works by Elmgreen and Dragset and the man who creates them. For one thing, Elmgreen’s initial response to all questions possesses a certain devil-may-care attitude, uttered half-jokingly, half-seriously. This is usually followed by a cheeky grin, and then along comes an insightful reflection that’s nothing if not quotable.
Michael Elmgreen (front right) with exhibition curator Pongsuang Kunprasop (front left) and Ballantine’s executives inside the `Dislocated Oriental’ corridor.
His art often generates a similar reaction from viewers. Take for example,the highly-regarded Prada Marfa - the forever-closed Prada store in the middle of the Texas desert. It’s a great joke setting up the epitome of high-end style in the middle of nowhere, but upon closer look, it’s a subtle exploration of the idea of displacement that enables art appreciators to look at the Prada store, in the artist’s own words, “in a refreshed and critical way”.
Elmgreen and Dragset’s contemplation on the theme of displacement can be deemed part of their renowned ongoing series “Powerless Structures”, for which they have been creating a canon of works that disempowers “the structures” or the construction and in one way or another empower the people.
“[It's] about how structure should not be perceived as like power structure because the structures themselves could be changed. They could be turned into something else,” said the artist.
Their interest, and fascination with the ideas of power structure and dislocation are somewhat influenced by their relocation to Berlin in 1997. Fleeing the conservative 1990s’ Danish art scene into the embrace of the German capital, Elmgreen said that the vital energy of the young European city that seemed constantly in motion deprived all establishments and structures of their power, hence the idea for this “Powerless Structures” series.
“Berlin was back then such a dynamic city. It changed all the time and all the normal dynamic of commerce and capital and whatever couldn’t control it because there were so many young people, so much energy. The city was kind of like having its own vibe and no one knew what the next cool area would be, where the cool galleries were and what would be the cool club next month and it was really inspiring. How could you plan with the structure? Although Berlin is now still kind of an experimental room for Europe and not really grown-up yet but it’s more settled,”
Berlin, as Elmgreen puts it, also allowed both him and his other half, Ingar Dragset, to foster their own artistic character and approach in a way he believed neither his homeland nor other European cultural capitals could do. The pair hooked up back in 1995 after Dragset met Elmgreen at one of the latter’s poetry presentations. They started collaborating, albeit to the disdain of the then Danish art scene, which he described as “macho” for a “gay couple doing a performance”.
“Berlin was close to Denmark,” said Elmgreen as half-jokingly, half-seriously as ever, of the reason behind their choice of residence at the turn of the century.
“Berlin was really interesting in 1997 because it wasn’t really structured on the art scene yet, it was taking its first step. If you moved to Paris, London or New York, everything would be static and we would have to fit in. With Berlin, we would be able to start the whole thing.”
It was in Berlin that the duo decided to push the envelope for their artistic exploration of space and how people interact with certain space. Elmgreen and Dragset converted a large 100m2 building into a studio where they partly live, work, exhibit and play host to social gatherings. This living experiment defies the notion of social interaction that varies from private, semi-public and public space by putting them all together on the same ground.
“All of our works deal with public space and private space and how we still interact with these spaces in a way that is so traditional. Our studio is a kind of living experiment compared to the classic way of life - this is my work space, this is my living space, this is my recreational space. We just get everything together,” he said.
Both the ideas of displacement and space manipulation that have been translated into their revered “Powerless Structures” and Prada Marfa are revisited in Bangkok in the duo’s site-specific installation at Hua Lamphong railway station. Titled Dislocated Oriental, the piece involves a reconstructed 10 metre-long exact replica of The Oriental’s sacred corridor stationed in the middle of the central platform, giving Hua Lamphong visitors a sneak peek into the privileged exclusivity of one of Bangkok and Asia’s most luxurious hotels.
“The Oriental has this kind of classic, posh ambience of being the leading hotel but we made an exact replica of the corridor and all the doors that are closed with the sign ‘Do not disturb.’ You kind of go through the corridor of these paranoid people,” he said.
At first glance, you’re likely to overlook this 10 metre-long off-white corridor or mistake it as a new set of restrooms. Upon closer inspection, it’s undoubtedly the exquisite lanterns lighting up the corridor that differentiate it from the rest of the railway station - the elegant brass lanterns equipped with warm yellowing bulbs that strike a sharp contrast against the high ceiling of a daytime Hua Lamphong that’s mostly lit by natural light that pierces through the glass ceiling.
“When it’s there at The Oriental, you take it for granted as a luxurious corridor for exclusivity, but here, you see how it looks in a completely different environment and not surrounded by its door policy, its placement, its location, rooms and whatever. When it’s out of context, it looks completely ridiculous and weird, like a refined old lady who’s trying to be posh at this domestic station that has a very trashy, very working-class environment.”
After Bangkok, Elmgreen and Dragset will travel to Japan for the Yokohama Triennale and then London; the latter is where they will restage their venerable Drama Queens project they previously showed at “Sculpture Projects Munster” last year. The show, which will be staged at the Old Vic from October 12 onwards, involves a stellar cast of seven superstar sculptures of the 20th century, each representing the “isms” of its time; from Giacometti’s Walking Man, Jeff Koons’ Rabbit, Hans Arp’s Cloud Shepherd, Sol LeWitt’s Four Cubes, Ulrich Ruckriem’s Untitled (Granite) and Barbara Hepworth’s Elegy III, for example - all motorised and radio controlled from the wings of stage. The dialogue, written by British playwright Tim Etchells is a bickering between these modernist sculpture icons with a killer line from Jeff Koons’ Rabbit about its meaning that goes:
“I am a silver rabbit, based on the form of a cheap but colourful plastic toy and I am approximately 104cm high. I just reflect reality on my beautiful skin. That’s all there is to it girl. What kind of opinion do you expect me to have about those big questions about symbols and meaning?”
Then, what is all this artistic bitchiness about? The elitism of modern art? The meaninglessness of life as sculptures in a museum? A return to the root of performance art for the artistic duo? “They were bitching for an hour and that’s the whole play,” said Elmgreen. “But this time we have really famous people to work on the voices like Kevin Spacey. It’s live-acting. I have no f***ing clue about theatre but I’m gonna have my first time being director, with Kevin Spacey too. I’m good at being an amateur!”
We just need to figure out by ourselves whether this irony is meant to be a joke or for real.
