A short film made by artist Katerina Jebb in support of the New Perfume by Comme des Garçons. Below the jump, a bit of an explanation, if it helps you any.
Note: below is an excerpt from a longer statement found at the YouTube page for this video...
We Can Find Beautiful Things Without Consciousness materializes from Jebb's recent video series, Simulacrum and Hyperbole. In this work, Jebb sees the boundaries between actuality and satire confused and disrupted. In creating an imaginary TV channel Lucid TV, the viewer is offered parody endorsements such as Tilda Swinton's Hot Dollar, where actresses sell themselves with feeble sincerity. In Mind and Soul Control we are reassured, "It's not you that's the problem, it's your life." The artist grasps the medium of television advertising and feeds it back in to itself within the context of reality.
This is heightened in the case of We Can Find Beautiful Things Without Consciousness, for what is displayed is an actual perfume created by Comme des Garcons. The result is an indicative exploitation of the crisis of identity, awareness, and authenticity that surrounds the complex layer cake of psychological interplay underpinning commercial advertising.[...] Further on we see Jebb's work displayed within a vitrine reminiscent of a woman's toilette table. Here, the real Comme des Garcons perfume stands as a valid soldier amongst satires, such as Talk of the Town, Tender Stalking and Art and Fashion. Once again the viewer is invited to enjoy the absurdity of bombastic statements being used to describe the nature of a scent. [...]
Am I blind as well dense? I could not see any of the items which supposedly are on that “Toillette table.”
Is the message that this is a fragrance for the idiotic and pretentious, or for those who are ironic and sophisticated enough to despise “celebrity” fragrances.
In which case, should I mail back my bottle of Commes Des Garcon’s “Daphene” (which, I bought with no idea that it was associated with a “celebrity” haute couture buyer)?
Okay.
I’m looking forward to the fragrance despite this submission to the Whitney Biennial.
Me too.
Weird that the perfume is supposed to be authentic but then they feel a need to position it as such through an arthouse video that is a critique of the advertising that the perfume supposedly eschews. By critiquing mainstream advertising culture all they are doing is declaring that their own ad strategy is in fact superior, which calls attention to the fact that it’s just as hollow. This perfume is a failure before its release because it’s too orchestrated to be authentic. Just throw it into the ugly bottle and say nothing. Or get out of my face CDG because reverse propaganda is still propaganda.
Big step backward from the Quay Brothers Wonderwood, which should have been in a biennial but wasn’t submitted, probably because it would be too authentic to pass as Art.
I did not love that movie as much as everyone else did. It was lovely, but 30 seconds of it was enough for me.
…I KNEW there was a good reason I didn’t major in art. Or film. I’m completely at sea with this and don’t know what to say, other than it made my head hurt and I feel patronized.
But I’m still going to try to sample the fragrance when I can. Notes of packaging tape? YES, please.
I’m exactly the same Mals ! that video is just nonsense :S
Yes. I spent a few seconds wondering if I was *supposed* to feel patronized, then I decided I didn’t care — just give me a sample of the perfume, please.
It’s not pretty, there are no models trying to be sexy, nor is it easy to understand. Amen.
Pretentious much?
Being different for the sake of being different adds up to nothing. And, honestly, it’s pretty easy to do. It’s like being “goth” in Beverly Hills (in my day, it was being “punk” in Beverly Hills – and there were plenty of them. I’m sure they all grew up to be lawyers…)
re: “Once again the viewer is invited to enjoy the absurdity of bombastic statements being used to describe the nature of a scent. […]”
Perhaps they read the “enchanting” poem CdG released (and which was posted here a couple of days ago)!
BTW I read the description of the notes but all I can think is that it will smell like Ambroxan.
Well, at least it’s only a little over a minute of my life I won’t get back.