「Any girl can be glamorous」すずえり (鈴木 英倫子) 展 @ 資生堂ギャラリー、銀座 "Any girl can be glamorous" suzueri (Elico Suzuki) exhibition @ Shiseido Gallery, Ginza
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Shiseido Gallery in Ginza, famous for its pleasant curatorial surprises, has once again landed a direct hit. SUZUKI Elico / suzueri 鈴木 英倫子, an artist previously unknown to me, installed a body of work that, not only in its methodology but also in its conceptual relevance to the present, creates a sense of psychic unrest and inspires reflection.
A social commentary of a special kind, indeed.
Suzueri normally creates installations and improvisations using devices that link together pianos and self-made electronic circuits, and seeks to find narrative in the representation of sound and the communication technology that mediates it.
Focussing on the life of Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000), multifaceted possibilities of artistic approaches and practices opened up for suzueri.
Let’s get an overview about Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, later Hedy Lamarr, a glamour girl.
With her nude scenes in the film “Ecstasy,” the actress caused a scandal in 1933 – and quickly became considered one of the most attractive women of all time.
Quote from Vanity Fair, Dec. 7, 2021
“‘Ecstasy and Me’ describes Lamarr’s adolescence as a tumultuous time, filled with the trauma of attempted rape, lurid sexual exploits at boarding school, and an affair with her friend’s father that produced “uncountable” orgasms. It fails to mention, though, that when she was a teenager, she was already learning mechanics, and had become a fearless self-promoter and a protégé of theatrical impresario Max Reinhardt.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/12/hedy-lamarr-biography-old-hollywood
What many don’t know: She was also a clever inventor. On June 10, 1941, she and composer George Antheil filed a patent for their frequency-hopping “Secret Communication System” – a technology that has become an integral part of our everyday lives.
“Here sat undoubtedly the most beautiful woman on the planet,” George Antheil recalls his first encounter with film diva Hedy Lamarr. “Many movie queens don’t look nearly as good in person as they do on screen, but with this one, it was the other way around.” The composer and the actress met at a dinner hosted by a mutual friend. An encounter with astonishing consequences.
The Austrian possesses not only grace, but also brains. During her marriage to the arms industrialist Fritz Mandl, she learned that many submarine torpedoes are difficult to steer and miss their target. The radio signal is transmitted on only one frequency and can therefore be easily jammed. After leaving Europe behind for a Hollywood career, Hedy Lamarr leads a curious double life: By day, she plays the naive glamour girl, by night, she tinkers with a new remote control system for torpedoes – a contribution to the war against the Nazis.
George Antheil has been experimenting with automatic pianos since his scandalous success “Ballet Mécanique.” Antheil synchronizes the pianos with identical punched cards. If a hole is punched on the paper, the corresponding note is played. When Antheil explains this principle to Lamarr, she is thrilled: This is the missing piece of the puzzle for her torpedo control system! An identical punched card program is supposed to run in the torpedo control system and the transmitter of the guidance signal, synchronizing the constant changes in the radio frequency. Interference-free.
When Lamarr and Antheil filed a patent for this “Secret Communication System” on June 10, 1941, the hoped-for success failed to materialize. The Navy claimed it was too heavy for the torpedoes. Antheil considered this a misunderstanding: “Our mechanism is so small that it fits into any wristwatch. In the patent, we stated that part of the mechanism worked similarly to a pianola. It was undoubtedly our biggest mistake. I can see them saying, ‘My God, we’ll never get a pianola like that into a torpedo!'”
After the end of World War II, frequency hopping technology gathered dust in the military’s drawers. It wasn’t until the mid-1950s that the mechanism was further developed. When the US Army approved it for civilian use in 1981, it wasn’t long before the telecommunications industry recognized its potential. Data transmission on constantly changing frequencies to reduce radio interference – this is now the basis of wireless internet, Bluetooth, and GPS.
Suzueri: “Along with smoke signals, light is one of the oldest means of communication. In this work, visible light communication is achieved by adding a sound signal directly to the voltage of the LEDs, superimposing the sound on top of the light waveform and transmitting it. Overlaid on each light bulb are lines from movies in which Hedy appeared, her singing voice, news stories about her at the time, interviews and conversations from TV programs, and the sound of songs and interviews with her fellow inventor, George Antheil. Point the receiver at the light and you will hear the voices that once filled the space.”
Suzueri’s conceptual approach lets the visitor pick up a self-made sensor at the venue and point it at a light bulb. Then you can hear an actual recording of that time.
Further on, her exhibition focuses on Lamarr’s turbulent life as an immigrant, too, thus letting the audience learn about history in several time and context layers.
info werke
She features installations that connect pianos and light bulbs to communication devices, to consider the relationship between communication and society. Suzueri: “In watching Lamarr’s films and reading books about her, I began to notice themes such age, appearance, and social approval – issues that women are inevitably faced with to one degree or another. I was struck by the contrast between the perception of Lamarr as “the most beautiful woman in the world” and her present-day legacy as “the mother of Wi-Fi”.
piano etc
A well thought out solo exhibition that superbly resonates the Past and the Now.
Last but not least, let’s read suzueri’s comment on this exhibition:
“Up until now, I have mainly been performing using devices I have made myself. I applied to the Shiseido Gallery because I wanted to think beyond the narrative of the devices I make and the sounds they produce, and I am grateful to have been selected. After some deliberation, I have decided not to reveal my birth year or the year I first graduated from university. I am very happy to have a place in Japan today where I can be appreciated regardless of age, gender, or career, and I am very grateful for the generosity of this place. I am feeling nervous, but I will do my best to create a good exhibition space.”
1 foto?
Every art exhibition is met with great expectations from all sides. That’s necessary, given the visitors’ desire for quality and their limited time. Suzueri mastered her solo exhibition at Shiseido Gallery with flying colors, earning her high praise from the Japanese art scene!
Bravissima!
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2-3 fotos?
今日のおまけ today’s bonus
