UGO RONDINONE

Nevertheless, it is not only a space of joy and happiness, as the photos’ references to Pierrot indicate—aquietly observing archetype known to symbolize a sense of melancholy. What is the melancholy about? Isit about what one leaves behind when moving away, moving on or up? Goodbyes are indeed always part ofchange, markers of transition to move into a new mode, state, or phase.

A certain ease with change is, however, also discernable in these five photos, as much as in the larger bodyof Rondinone’s photographic work to which this suite belongs. The photos portray Rondinone as compelling,timeless archetypes, transformed into ambiguous idiosyncratic figures: the femme fatale dressed entirely inblack; the dreamy hippie girl; the Viennese actionist-cum-seductive-androgynous-butcher; the undergroundmusic type; and, as presented here, a fetish version of Pierrot in a sculptural, Dadaist-like outfit. Altogether,the photos show an enjoyment of androgyny; the possibility to alternate identities; and the concept of genderfluidity that was made intelligible after years of emancipatory work. As the body of work exemplifies, one canshift character, if one understands how to use the tools of performativity.

But what about the references to Dadaism? Isn’t it often considered the big bang of modernism, heraldinga time of rapid change? Indeed, after its 1916 proclamation with a manifesto, various other modernist movements took off—not irregularly drawing on the eclectic Dada movement, which was against any kind ofprewritten form and thrived on ambiguity. More than eighty years later, i don’t live here anymore was createdat the dawn of a new era too, namely the digital age. In it, imagery and image-making have taken a radicalturn because of the exponential progress of the internet and digitalization processes, which transmuted intosocial media where decentralized mechanisms of image distribution would let subjectivity blossom—with allits advantages and disadvantages.

There is yet another anachronistic reference to decipher: the muzzle—with its flawless lines that stylisticallyresemble the line flow of constructivism—emphasizes and extends the shape of the face, but also disclosesits grid-like structure, almost as a precursor to biometric facial recognition of today. Combined with the fiercegaze into the abyss, which looks like a Nietzschean warning that the abyss also gazes back, it is as thoughthe downsides of the dawning digital age are already identified.

Besides Rondinone’s reflection on performativity and transformation, these interpretations and thoughtsseek to unravel how i don’t live here anymore renders the notion of timelessness palpable. Taking eternallyrecurring archetypes as subject matter, the artist modifies and reinterprets them, plays around with them andexplores their potential in relation to his own subjective being, placing them in a realm of ambiguity to renderthem ubiquitous and unique at the same time. As such, Rondinone shows that no matter how alienatingsomething may seem, one can always discern one’s own connections. It is the shimmering yet powerfulfamiliarity one finds in a déjà vu.

Press release courtesy Esther Schipper. Text: Léon Kruijswijk.