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Lot Essay
'Post-Human' was realised by Janine Antoni to be included in the exhibition of the same title that toured various European museums in 1992.
In this crucial exhibition that also included works by Robert Gober, Paul MacCarthy, Kiki Smith, Charles Ray or Wim Delvoye , Antoni investigated the growing menace of the manipulation of human body through surgery, bio-technology or cosmetics that leads to the creation of a new, artificial self.
Jeffrey Deitch, the curator of the show, justified this central theme: "In the future, artists may no longer be involved in just redefining art. In the post-human future artists may also be involved in redefining life." (J. Deitch, in 'Post-Human', Lausanne 1992.)
In 'Post-Human', Antoni revisits the luxury cosmetics displays that fill the standardised daily life of our consumerist culture. In this work, the viewer's decadency is reflected in the mirrors of a lipstick display that stands as a metaphor for the artificially reconstructed body. On the wall, a video projection embodies the dissimulation of the self into virtual reality, the installation parodying the excess of the advertising language, as the artist sarcastically professes in the pamphlets that accompany the work:
"Now. Janine Antoni breaks the lipstick barrier. The glow. The glide. The scintillating, soft sensation. The incredible treatment you've always wanted is all in one Perfect Lipstick. For those brave enough to explore the woman within. An incomparable blend of 1,000 different lipsticks from 25 of the world's finest cosmetic companies. Finally. Lustrous, lasting color in on elipstick. Janine Antoni unlocks the secrets of beauty in this spectacular, handcrafted implosion of color.
Accentuate the sculpture that is you."
In this crucial exhibition that also included works by Robert Gober, Paul MacCarthy, Kiki Smith, Charles Ray or Wim Delvoye , Antoni investigated the growing menace of the manipulation of human body through surgery, bio-technology or cosmetics that leads to the creation of a new, artificial self.
Jeffrey Deitch, the curator of the show, justified this central theme: "In the future, artists may no longer be involved in just redefining art. In the post-human future artists may also be involved in redefining life." (J. Deitch, in 'Post-Human', Lausanne 1992.)
In 'Post-Human', Antoni revisits the luxury cosmetics displays that fill the standardised daily life of our consumerist culture. In this work, the viewer's decadency is reflected in the mirrors of a lipstick display that stands as a metaphor for the artificially reconstructed body. On the wall, a video projection embodies the dissimulation of the self into virtual reality, the installation parodying the excess of the advertising language, as the artist sarcastically professes in the pamphlets that accompany the work:
"Now. Janine Antoni breaks the lipstick barrier. The glow. The glide. The scintillating, soft sensation. The incredible treatment you've always wanted is all in one Perfect Lipstick. For those brave enough to explore the woman within. An incomparable blend of 1,000 different lipsticks from 25 of the world's finest cosmetic companies. Finally. Lustrous, lasting color in on elipstick. Janine Antoni unlocks the secrets of beauty in this spectacular, handcrafted implosion of color.
Accentuate the sculpture that is you."