Cory Arcangel: The Sharper Image

Cory Arcangel, Photoshop CS: 84 by 66 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient "Spectrum", mousedown y=8900 x=15,600, mouse up y=13,800 x=0, 2009 Unique c-print, 84 x 66 inches, Image courtesy of the artist and Team Gallery, NY, Collection of Ninah and Michael Lynne.

Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami

By Irina Leyva-Pérez

Technology has invaded our daily lives in a permanent and dominant way. So it is not a surprise that artists have found inspiration in the equipment that they use every day. Cory Arcangel is one such artist, and “The Sharper Image,” his recent exhibition at MOCA Miami, is clear evidence of this statement. Starting from the title of the exhibition, it is easy to see his intentions, aside from ‘repeating’ the well-known company name; he is participating in a seemingly universal quest for a neater and sharper image. This quest has produced the DVD and Blu-Ray, and has now culminated in the 3D movie. We are searching for something beyond an ultra realistic image; we want reality in front of us.

The exhibition included works made with video games, fragments of cult films and videos from YouTube, created and/or modified with Photoshop. This was an interactive exhibition, and the spectator was encouraged to participate through playing with his games. I Shot Andy Warhol (2002), one of the central pieces of the exhibition, is based on a well-known Nintendo game called Hogan’s Alley, and Arcangel has replaced the main elements: Andy Warhol replaces the gangsters, and the so-called innocents are replaced by other popular characters, such as the Pope, rapper Flavor Flav and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Colonel Sanders. Spectators were able to shoot at the figures with a plastic gun attached to the monitors.

These were ironic pieces, and Arcangel was unquestionably testing his spectators on their appreciation not only for technology but for humor as well. One of the pieces was a projection of the cult movie Dazed and Confused, but the dialogue was replaced with the original script, read by Indian workers without artistic training. The monotone voices bring both confusion and at the same time a smile to whomever is listening. In a way, Arcangel is commenting on globalization and the reality of exporting jobs to other sides of the globe.

As we all know, YouTube has become one of the most visited web sites on the Internet. Armed with fragments from many videos posted on YouTube, Arcangel recreated Arnold Schoenberg’s Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 (1909). The result is his piece, Drei Klavierstücke op. 11 (2009). This piece shows fragments of incoherent bits and pieces of different videos of cats walking over pianos. This apparently random exercise can only be seen for what it actually is by those who know the musical reference; the rest only see a disjointed parade of cats and their crazy owners. Arcangel is a cannibal in the anthropophagic term, he is literally copying and pasting images to create this piece and other works.

Throughout the exhibition it is very easy to see that Arcangel is enthralled with technology. He is questioning the fast pace at which technical equipment changes. Looking at the accumulation of different types of equipment, beginning with the 9mm projectors, make us a bit nostalgic. It is, up to certain point, a generational sense of appreciation. There are generations that grew up with projectors, others with VCRs and Nintendos, and the latest with DVD players, Blu Ray discs and Play Stations. Another prime example, and one of the many surprises of the exhibition, is the temporary modification of MOCA’s web site by Arcangel.

Arcangel is part of the contemporary artists who are constantly pushing boundaries, making us re-evaluate what we do and see daily. Our society is living at the speed of light or faster, and we don’t stop to marvel at new technological advances. We just take them for granted in our thirst for innovation and our consumer frenzy.  Arcangel is looking beyond that.  He is daring to challenge us with his pieces, forcing us to look at technology as a source of inspiration for art.

(March 11 - May 9, 2010)

Irina Leyva-Pérez is an art historian and critic based in Miami, FL. She is the curator of Pan American Art Projects and former assistant curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica.

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