Press Release

“Productive Narcissism” serves as a comment on the construction of contemporary personae, their identities, and image. The exhibition investigates the ways in which we are required to constantly reinvent ourselves and are thereby placed into a permanent state of uncertainty about our own taste, style, and even personality. With this in mind, it becomes apparent that the contemporary persona is formed not only from itself but primarily from external entities, which produce a desire for continuous reinventions. Referencing Boris Groys’ essay “Self-Design, or Productive Narcissism” and Todd Haynes’ cult film Safe, the show also critically examines the industry it is a part of. In his essay, Groys argues that “design has transformed society itself into an exhibition space in which individuals appear as both artists and self-produced works of art.” And while the art historian claims that that there can be no safety with regards to our own identities because they are so heavily dependent on society’s approval of it—while society itself is under constant aesthetic and moral fluctuation—Haynes’ film suggests an alternative closed sphere, which is seemingly safe. And yet it ends up being as self-destructive as the real world—and perhaps even more.

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