It is easy to be mesmerised by
Bowie’s powerful visuality
in a media saturated world
where the role of the ocular is
increasingly essential to
thinking across a range of motifs.
UK
Now seen by more than 1 million people worldwide, the exhibition will include more than 50 legendary costumes, original stage
set designs, handwritten lyric sheets, album artwork, rare film, video and photographs, and interviews with collaborators. The David
Bowie Is program of events incorporates film, live talks, music, live
performances and other creative works. It is the must-see event of
the winter season.
Nested within this cornucopia of exhibition delights is a two-day
multidiscipline symposium, The Stardom and Celebrity of David
Bowie (July 17-18).
The symposium – at which both writers of this piece are participating – explores an array of topics including Bowie’s most interesting
artistic collaborations; his performative history in mime, theatre
and film; the poetic sensibility of his cut and mix lyrics; and fashion and artistic trends and their influences on his own unmasked
“transgressions” of sexuality, race and class.
In addition, a number of creative artists will respond to Bowie’s work through their own practice. Installation artist Jamie
O’Connell will calibrate a photocopier so that it counts the number of times a piece of Bowie memorabilia is auctioned and bought
in the world. In this piece, Bowie becomes the star who is sold to
the world.
It is easy to be mesmerised by Bowie’s powerful visuality in a media saturated world where the role of the ocular is increasingly
essential to thinking across a range of motifs. We sometimes see
too much but are asked to feel too little. Bowie, by contrast, turns
seeing upside down, and wraps the strings of feeling around his
envisioned worlds and characters.
A fascinating artist, Tanja Stark, draws on visual expression to
present her creative work that places strong emphasis on Bowie’s
visionary opus. Visitors are offered a walk-through sonic and visual
labyrinth as a means to explore the archetypal theme of the profound personal and sometimes mysterious journey. Stark’s work
acts to reflect the impressions left by Bowie’s presentation of the
scintilla sublime or those mesmerising moments which make one
swoon.
By way of concentrating research debate and critical analysis
around Bowie’s music, art and video work, the symposium offers a
full circumnavigation of the significant implications of his incredible oeuvre, and deals with notions of “stardom” more broadly.
So, who is David Bowie?
I’m not a prophet
or a Stone Age man
Just a mortal
with the potential of a superman
I’m living on