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Marc Camille
Chaimowicz, Celebra-
tion? Realife, 1972-
2000
FEBRUARY 11, 2013 BY MARK SHEERIN

Throwing a party, like making art, is one of

those activities we can attend to when all of our
most basic needs have been satisCed. Food,
shelter, art – that is surely the order.

But if we are to suppose that ancient people

ever let their hair down, who would decorate the
cave? With a bit of help from the shamans, you
could say those private views got out of hand.

In latter times, say the last 500 years, art has

sobered up but celebration has never fallen out
of fashion. It could apply to, say, the reading of a
mass in church.

By the by, the Crst recorded use of the word in

English is in a 1580 in love poem, Arcadia by Sir
Philip Sydney: “He laboured…to hasten the
celebration of their marriage.â€

Central to this piece is indeed a plastic bride

and groom such as you would Cnd atop a cake.
They pose for a strobe Vash surrounded by the
residue of their bash.

If it is theirs… Other cues lead elsewhere.Pierrot

hats and animal masks feature in few wed-
dings. The discarded beach ball suggests that
even the honeymoon is already over.

But the party is kept going by a revolving glitter

ball and changing Clters on a spot light. Strings
of fairy lights animate the scene long after the
guests have left. It is a lonely sort of installation.

What sets the deCning tone for this celebration

is a psychedelic and glammy rock soundtrack
which beckons you into the party from the mo-
ment you step into the gallery.

Most poignant is when Bowie’s Five Years

comes across the speakers. This now sounds
like a party for the end of the world, or at the
very least, glancing at a portrait of Lenin, the
end of history.

What can it mean to go home after a party like

that, the very last of its kind. In 2013 it looks like
Chaimowicz’s empty piece is the celebration
of a celebration. Realife (sic) has caught up.

Celebration? Realife can be seen in Glam: The Perfor-

mance of Style, at Tate Liverpool until 12 May 2013.
See gallery website for more details.

F T E P
a w m ar
POSTED IN 20TH CENTURY, CONTEMPORARY ART, IN-
STALLATION ART

← Previous: Found Next: Found Objects

Objects 06/02/13 25/02/13 →

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interviews
Asheq Akhtar
Johanna Billing
David Blandy
Gerard Byrne
The Chapman Brothers
Marcus Coates
Stephen Cornford
Martin Creed
Jeremy Deller
Tamsin Dillon
Dominic from Luton
Karl England and Ben Street
Tessa Farmer
Omer Fast
John Gerrard
Gerald Laing
Michael Landy
Glenn Ligon
Liliane Lijn
Meliisa Logan and Nadine Jessen
Daria Martin
Karelle Ménine
Jaume Plensa
Daniel Pryde-Jarman
Asher Remy Toledo
John Russell
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Bob and Roberta Smith
Corinna Spencer
Jasmine Surreal
Gavin Turk
John Virtue
David Wightman

blogism
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A Kick Up The Arts
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An Paenhuysen
Another Design Blog
Art Fag City
Art is Life
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C-Monster.net
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