Review I wrote a little while ago, could use another draft
‘Emotion driven YOUTUBE DJ Party-Beta Version’ run by the artist Mitchell Bridges is an atypical art exhibition. The event (which it is probably better described as) makes a concrete affair of what is usually done in the houses of skint under-graduates. The show comprises of two DJs, two laptops and two projections that stretch across chandeliers and the ceiling in a semi-baroque, semi-gatro pub environment. Music videos are bounced between the DJs, one playing while the other projection shows the DJs flicking through Youtube pages for the next tune. Old-school Rn’B tunes and the school disco songs of the 20-30 year old generation beat out; the songs and music videos which seem to be inspiring, or featuring in so much of the graduate work coming out of London (i.e. Nicky Carvell’s Royal Academy degree show featuring Brian Harvey of 90s boyband East 17 fame).
So much performance art currently could be construed as ‘event’. Take LuckyPDF, a collective based in Peckham and Camberwell, whose primary works are events undisputedly described and thought of as art. So following this logic, why not also label another young artist’s youtube DJ event as such? This article isn’t going to go into the tired old debate of ‘what is art’, the current scene is over that, so like what Francis M Naumann said about readymades, “you [can] no longer walk by it and pretend even to yourself that it wasn’t art, here it was, in the middle of an exhibition, treat it as art”. So in the context of being in a space, surrounded by the South-east art scene, run by an artist, Bridges, whose practice often involves a participatory element, it’s art, yes?
Bridges’ performance/event was tinged with humour. These weren’t professional DJs playing to a paying crowd, here if the crowd didn’t know them they at least recognised their face. Spotted DJing was local gallery owner and next art scene master socialite Rosza Farkas, and next to her was Your Body is A Temple collective, digital media rising artist (can the a-la-mode vibe be stressed enough?) Harry Sanderson. The sound was of erratic quality and the flow disturbed by a problematic internet connection. The visuals were askew with Youtube branding blazoned across them. This website, a resource for social networks, has wormed its way into daily and cultural life, and what is art if not a mirror of our society (think most recently of hot young thing Ed Fornieles with his current solo show ‘Hangover, Part II at Carlos/Ishinaka, where social networking sites are used as a direct material).
The visuals loom above; visuals that feature the typical enviable trappings of success; money, beauty, love and sex. But Bridges’s performance/event hybrid poked fun at the polished performers in the videos, the virtual world bleeding into our own – normally presented negatively by the media. The event served as a platform pointing out that those who are reportedly “buggered” by a bad job market and no prospects when coming out of education are still claiming what is apparently being taken away from them. Aspiration and opportunity, these buzz words are normally preceded by ‘lack-of’ in this current climate but Bridges’ ‘ Emotion Driven YOUTUBE DJ Party – Beta Version’ takes back or rather shows that their control over their future never left; highlighting the fresh zeitgeist present. A zeitgeist where those in the upcoming art scene ignore fatalistic thoughts; making new opportunities without the reliance on or the need for previous frameworks.
The rebelliousness of this is reflected in the artist’s sincere motive. Bridges stated on the day that it stemmed simply from a desire to ‘spend time with friends doing what [he] usually [does] most nights’ (dance to youtube clips). This dynamic approach, with its home-made aesthetic, became a more intensely social experience than any exhibition private view, club or bar. There were no set times for the DJs, they were not performers but the audience. They switched between performing, talking, smoking and drinking. Projectors blocked by dancing, writhing bodies, warped the image but it did not matter. Each quirk, each difference from what you would expect in a commercially driven space made it that much more a mirror.
Video killed the radio star, and nowhere else is that vibe more present than in Bridges’ event. Advancements and changes in society, technology, economy and communications are changing how we live but this has only made the graduate art scene stronger at what it has always done brilliantly, creating a sense of community.
