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This section gives details of confirmed episodes of the project. As new episodes are confirmed and run, their details will be added. |
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Artists: Jemima Brown, Dean Chalkley, Erica Eyres, Luc Dondeyne, David Hancock, Ivan Jones, Alex McQuilkin, Angie Reed, Ari Versluis, Klaus Wanker, Daniela Wolfer Vegas Gallery 12 October to 11 November 2007 The teenager was cynically invented in the 1950’s, capitalism’s best post-war moment to tap into new, unexplored markets. For the first time, those between childhood and adulthood were given their own label, dress codes and goofy pursuits. The fad was a great success as teenagers across the globe –even those suspending their Marxist understanding of the dangers of this new invention- flocked to map out their identity with hula-hoops and poodle skirts. The darker fringes – heading for souped-up hot rods and biker jackets- intuitively sensed the more erotic promise of things yet to come. The endurance of the teenager mythology is that it, in part, it mystifies the banalities of family relationships. Whether clearly present or notably absent, a teenager cannot exist without a family. The ongoing attempts of generations of teenagers to forge their own crypto-adult identity inevitably imply the presence of their families. And perhaps ironically, often the group relationship structures that teenagers develop around them – the teenage family of peers- only reinforce the strength of the family structures they try to resist: intense bonds and emotional psychodramas are played out on a family of chosen friends instead of with those to whom they are biologically linked. Locked out by the slammed doors of poster-ridden bedrooms or abusers that might approach by stealth in the night, the various canonical constructions that we have of the teenage experience almost always engage with a family presence. Off-screen, concerned parents and alcoholic fathers or neurotic mothers and nagging little sisters hover like ghostly spectres. Given a presence in cinematic renditions, our most commercially successful filmmakers often exploit media genres to the full when showing the otherwise absent members of the teenager’s family of origin. The strident voice of rebellious attempts to lock out the corrupt adult world or the poignant emotions in which teenagers deal with the anxieties of uneasy younger siblings. Media constructions of teenage identity can often be located on a spectrum between defiant separatism and uncomfortable cohabitation, and we readily understand the soap narratives on offer. Family Viewing has invited curator Melanie Moreau to examine the teenagers and their relationship to the family…. The Teenage Kicks Episode “I need excitement oh I need it bad The artists selected for this episode cover a full range of media and practices, proposing miscellaneous interpretations about the pubertal world, the search for a unique social identity, and its consequences within family and society. In order to test their limits, in the grand tradition of rebellion and provocation, teenagers look for challenges. They have a flashy sexuality with Daniela Wolfer, play the roles of disturbing Lolitas with Erica Eyres, and sexual fantasies with Jemima Brown. They can abuse and be abused. Theatrically excessive, they veer from comic to tragic in a matter of moments. David Hancock’s painting or Alex McQuilkin’s video recreates melodramatic scenes expressing an intriguing duality between beauty and destruction; a similar implication with Ari Versluis’s mute video of a frenetic Gabber dancer. Their desire to be someone special can be mixed with those for fame and recognition. Warhol’s prophecy has created a cult for individualism through celebrity and stardom that seems to be the only way to uniqueness. Teenage is a posing time. They want to be fashion icons with Klaus Wanker, rock stars with Luc Dondeyne. Their rites of passage are various, yet similar. Dean Chalkley reports their youth and excitement where, despite getting messy or dirty, they remain kind of sweet and innocent. And Angie Reed’s defiant homeless punk cannot help his attraction to the world of tabloid gossip about the stars, his street-cred hiding his drive to engage in the same pursuits as compliant society. Not forgetting that they are fragile. They are searching for clues to their identity within a society where dysfunctional families are common, with ageless and disoriented parents who compete with them in the search for happiness. Ivan Jones’s work thrives on this tension with a sense of foreboding and claustrophobia. Ever since the days of beatniks and the hippies, the gap between generations seems to be reduced. Though everyone remembers the angst of being a teenager, we also long for their excitement and their dreams. And perhaps, as Teenage Kicks suggests, in a society where hedonism and individualism are treasured, are we not more fascinated than disturbed by them? |
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