Somebody's got an Underwear Line!

XAVIER CHA

Two-Way Mirror, 2009
4 x 8 feet acrylic two-way mirror, aluminum frame, professional clowns
Courtesy of the artist and Taxter & Spengemann

This was totally fun; Xavier is an amazing artist. The gig:  I got hired to go from street clothes to clown getup in front of the two way mirror pretending no one was there. Really it stroked those voyeuristic fantasies I used to have as a little girl …….I would come home from school, go down to the basement, put a record on, and dance — all the while imagining being watched by the boys in my class.  Oh gees.

From the Contemporary’s website:

“Xavier Cha’s conceptual and performance-based work revolves around systems of social exchange and hierarchies of space (both physical and psychological). Her performances, objects, and videos subtly distort these ideologies by re-contextualizing culture, desire, the individual, and community. A frequent collaborator, Xavier has invited dancers, musicians, and mystics—among many others—not only to participatein her projects, but also to become the protagonists of the work.

Cha inaugurates this season’s Front Room. On Opening Night, and at random times throughout the following week, she has hired a series of local performers to enter the space, stand behind a large, freestanding two-way mirror and change from their street clothes into a clown’s uniform and makeup. Visitors witness this transformation from art space to voyeuristic clown factory, as each clown exits The Front Room to mingle casually in the museum. Conjuring notions of entertainment and spectatorship, as well as the role and expectations of the artist, Cha delivers a revealing portrait of disguise.”