Visual arts - Metro Times Detroit

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MONA curator collects 600 Facebook faces of those traditionally unseen

By Travis R. Wright - 9/29/2010

This Friday will launch the latest film from David Fincher (Fight Club), The Social Network — "the Facebook movie" — an adaptation of Ben Mezrich's 2009 nonfiction novel The Accidental Billionaires, marking a cinematic phenomenon of sorts. Face it, Facebook's history is as fascinating as it is young.

On Saturday, a very different multimedia take on Facebook is opening with The Facebook Show, at Detroit's Museum of New Art (MONA).

Featuring the profile pictures of more than 600 art-worldists in curator Jef Bourgeau's friend list, The Facebook Show examines what Bourgeau calls the "beneficial catastrophe of Facebook." For better or worse, it has made the world a smaller place.

Until last January, Bourgeau wasn't a Facebook user. When the New York-based artist Cara Phillips was in town looking for a solo show at MONA, she met Bourgeau in person and off-handedly inquired during their conversation if he was on Facebook. She was stunned to find he wasn't, and her amazement amazed him. "She said all the galleries and museums and the people who work at them were largely all on Facebook and used it to network," recalls Bourgeau. "She said I should be on it too."

With some skepticism, he created a profile and began to click through the pages, photos and profiles of his friends, many of whom play some sort of role in art communities.

He was intrigued by their profile photo decisions.

"For several reasons, I was never a fan of Art News, and what I really disliked was that they'd always put the face of the artist on the cover instead of their art," Bourgeau says. "That seemed more of a promotional gimmick. I never liked the idea of seeing the artist's face on the cover of anything, as their first impression. But when it came to Facebook, the artists themselves chose how they wanted to project their own image, instead of some gallery or magazine. I thought there were some pretty interesting choices."

With the permission of his friends, Bourgeau collected his favorite profile pictures. Then he befriended artists who were friends with his friends, and asked for permission to save a copy of their profile photos. He collected close and fringe friends, local and international artists, from Bryant Tillman, Kristin Beaver, James Dozier, Jerry Vile, Amanda Faye Cain and Beverly Fre$h, to Derrick May, Matthew Barney, Olaf Breuning, Damien Hirst, Rena Small and Marco Coraggio. Coraggio is making the trip from his home in Salerno, Italy to Detroit for the opening.

"What pushed me to cover over 4,680 miles and 10 hours of flight just to enjoy witnessing the pride of seeing my work at the prestigious MONA?" Coraggio reiterates. "Simply a strong sense of curiosity for Detroit and a desire for knowledge."

Sure, it's proof that at least 600 people maintain a general likeness for Bourgeau, but what will The Facebook Show really show us? Could any of these images stand alone on a gallery wall, or must they rely on each other? Will artists such as Coraggio attend en masse to see themselves, yet learn that their virtual neighbor on the gallery wall is standing just behind them? If so, will they meet? Is this a popularity contest? Will artists be vain enough to judge their photos as more or less interesting than others? If so, could that change the way they use Facebook?

Whether it's a voyeuristic party or an inspired technological deconstruction, there's one facet of the show we are sure of: Someone is going to "like" it on Facebook.

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The Facebook Show opens with a reception Oct. 2, from 6 to 10 p.m., and runs through Oct. 30 at the Museum of New Art; 7 N. Saginaw St., Pontiac; 248-210-7560; detroitmona.com. Opening at the same time is New Media, Sex, and Culture in the 21st Century, with more than 50 artists exploring femininity, masculinity, desire, pleasure, pornography and other topics. Also, check out is Love at MONA's space at the Russell Industrial Center - presenting new and intimate work by Amanda Faye Cain.

Travis R. Wright is arts and culture editor of Metro Times. Send comments to twright@metrotimes.com.

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VANITY FAIR

September issue

ARTE SI METTE DI PROFILO

Quando sei un artista, anche il tuo profilo Facebook finisce in mostra. E' quello che hanno pensato al Detroit Museum Of New Art (MONA) dove, fino al 24 luglio, si può visitare The Facebook Show, un'esibizione, curata da Jef Bourgeau, delle foto dei profili di 180 artisti. Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Matthew Barney (e sei italiani, tra cui Maurizio Cattelan) hanno donato l'immagine che li rappresenta sul social network.

C'è chi ha scelto di mostrarsi come un angelo medievale, chi con un Kalashnikov in mano. << Ormai tutto il mondo dell'arte contemporanea è su Facebook >> dice Bourgeau, direttore del Mona. << E' incredibile la qualità e la creatività che c'è nelle immagini dei loro profili >>.

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ART GETS ITS OWN PROFILE

Warning! When you're an artist, suddenly your Facebook portrait ends up in an art exhibition. That's what has happened at the Detroit Museum Of New Art (MONA) where, until July 24, it is possible to visit The Facebook Show curated by the museum’s director Jef Bourgeau, including photographs of 160 artists, famous and those soon-to-be. Artists such as Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Matthew Barney (as well as six Italians, including Maurizio Cattelan, Antonio Sassu, Dido Fontana, Marco Coraggio) have loaned their unique self-portraits that represent them on this important social network. There is Jack Summers who has chosen to show himself as a medieval angel, and Dorota Coy who brandishes a Kalashnikov rifle in her hand.

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The Facebook Show

Tell all your friends

By Robert del Valle

Special to Metromix

  (Credit: Marco Coraggio - Salerno, Italy)

Photos:

 

         

Facebook. Where would we be without it? Indeed, where were we before it showed up like an enveloping cloud - embracing us, linking us, inviting us, and reminding us over and over again that you don't have to be face to face with anyone in order to be ... face to face with everyone.

Too early (or too late?) to debate such matters. And what would be the point? Facebook is here and it's staying. Anyway, WE know we're your favorite website and a little competition is healthy now and then.

Besides, the ubiquitous "place where friends meet" has done us an indirect favor. It prompted Jef Bourgeau and his colleagues at Pontiac's Museum of New Art (all three-dimensional people, thank you) to set up an exhibit devoted to real friends in the real world. And here's the welcome twist - they've decided to use Facebook profile pictures as the "medium."

So what you will be seeing starting June 19 is a perceptive visual essay with such appropriate words as ironic, expedient, humorous, timely, and (perhaps) inevitable being called into service for the occasion. Jef was good enough to provide a little more background information.

Why an exhibit of Facebook faces and whose idea was it?
An artist from New York came through Detroit about a year ago, and insisted that I and the museum both "go on FB" because "everyone in the art world" was utilizing it. I went on, but never really utilized the site until I decided to pursue this project. And I decided to pursue it the moment I began to realize how many of the profile portraits were really exciting images in themselves Then, as I went hunting for more faces, I was amazed at how right that woman turned out to be - and equally surprised at the sheer number of artists, critics, and art historians who were indeed on FB.

TIME devoted a cover story to Facebook and examined both its pervasive influence and its effect on privacy? Comment? And how do those issues touch upon art?
Facebook is different from other networks - such as Myspace which (in my opinion) is abused terribly by many users. FB is a social network that is more controlled and focused. I know people complain about privacy issues (who doesn't these days?), but again the social factor (which is the most important factor, of course) is more powerful on FB. Art is meant to be public anyway. There should never be privacy issues with a work of art. The more who view the art, the more successful the work of art can be. That simple.

How many people were contacted and how many people responded?
Actually, I was kicked off for several days while I was messaging friends for their portraits! Some red flag went off - perhaps on the assumption or suspicion that I was spamming. Anyway this forced me to work around the system and create new contacts and new friends - and so the original list of 50 quickly grew to about 155. And of these, only two actually declined - both of them good friends and colleagues who were shy about their portraits being made more public. One was a painter and the other a photographer and both only made portraits of other people. That struck me as a curious response. But all the others contacted were very excited about the project. And so, when I was finally allowed back onto FB officially, many of my original friends had not been contacted. I've planned a Volume II show for October that will probably include twice the number as in this exhibit.

And in addition to being genuine friends of MONA (and of yours, of course), they represent a wide range of talent and experience in their own right.
Totally. From local friends in Detroit like Amanda Faye Cain, Davin Brainard, and Kristin Beaver to artists from across the country and globe like Eric Fischl, Ann Gordon, David Hockney, Brenda Goodman, Jessica Stockholder, and Alison Brady; art historians like Arthur C. Danto and Edward Lucie-Smith; and gallerists like Leo Koenig, Zach Feuer and Darlene Carroll.

Are you on Facebook yourself?
As I said at the start, after the NY artist insisted - well, I went on and put the museum on as well. But only with this current project did I truly come to realize how extensive the artist network is on Facebook - and how wonderful that can be for both a curator and an artist.

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