Amalia Ulman on plastic surgery for the sake of art
Breast augmentation surgery half-naked selfies on instagram and statuses with lyrics from Iggy Azalea's songs - perhaps not everybody did something like this, but such actions are hardly considered something unusual and even more so no one perceives pictures in social networks as a work of art. No one except Amalia Ulman is a graduate of Central Saint Martins and an artist who makes barely noticeable plastic surgery and turns her life into an endless performance in order to study the modern attitude towards appearance, status and sex. We talked to Ulman about the situation of women in the art world, suffering for beauty and pop culture.
It seems that you are trying to transform your daily life into an experiment or study of how our image is transformed on the Internet. Do you want to create some myth around you?
I do not know if there are any myths about me, but if there are, they appeared by mistake, after I completely flaunted myself, not thinking about the consequences. Unfortunately, I do not have a very good imagination, I need to learn everything empirically, so in order to understand something and to discuss, I have to constantly put myself in a variety of situations and environments. This, in my opinion, has led to the fact that my online behavior is different from others.
I think many people see a lot of irony in your online activities: selfies, #cute hashtags and Iggy Azalea quotes from songs. But how do people react to this who do not see that this is part of your work?
First, I hate the word "irony." I feel everything I am talking about. If not, I lose. Secondly, yes, of course, there is a conflict of generations. My peers and those who are younger than me — everyone who is called millennial and generation Y — do not need an explanation of what I am doing. Older people do not want to learn and very patronizingly think that they understand my works, which in fact ridicule them and the system that they helped preserve. Middle-aged people don't seem to understand my work at all.
Why did you decide on plastic surgery for breast augmentation? How do you feel now?
It seems to me that there is something very interesting in non-radical plastic surgeries, which, in my opinion, have much in common with faceless aesthetics of recession or delusional behavior in the countries of the first world. People spend thousands of dollars on cosmetic procedures, the result of which is almost imperceptible, while the other part of the population of the Earth does not have access to medicines. Aesthetic medicine is a huge industry that is also the largest export industry in the United States.
I did the operation because I was recently hit by a bus, so other operations did not seem to me to be important. I wanted to explore the violence that is being done on female bodies, and how destructive are the images of beauty. Breast augmentation is a very painful experience: you lose your nipple sensitivity, the operation can harm both your health and how you look. When you lie down, your chest pushes on you so that it seems as if an elephant has stepped on your body, and there is a chance that you will become dependent on painkillers (as is the case with any other surgery).
I feel a long metal bar in my leg every day. There are no moments when I do not think about it. I am good at imagining how my body looks from the outside, and I understand how distracting, even after healing, will be the thoughts about these two silicone balls under my skin.
Please tell us about your work with one of the most famous plastic surgeons in the world, Dr. Brandt? You seem to be people from completely different worlds.
Simon Casets and I invited Dr. Brandt to participate in a panel discussion because I am interested in changing trends in plastic surgery. More precisely, I am interested in what is considered attractive or beautiful, depending on what time we live. I was intrigued by his work: he played a huge role in what is called the New New Face. This is the opposite of constricted face after a circular plastic surgery. New New Face at Carla Bruni and Madonna. I do not consider him an artist. This is how to consider the chef of a "new kitchen" as an artist, this is stupid. Brandt has a keen eye and a good eye that allows him to collect art and dress fashionably, but creativity and eccentricity are not what makes you an artist.
How do you want to look yourself? It seems that all your transformations have some kind of goal.
I want to look the way I look in my dreams. I want to look like a photo version of myself.
You have repeatedly said that you are exploring the aesthetics of middlebrow. Could you tell us what you mean by this term? Why is this important right now?
I am from an industrial city in which mostly representatives of the working class lived. Until I left him, in my life there was always a lack of what top-class people have (for example, exciting stories), and what people from third world countries have - vivid memories of cruelty. For many years in a row, my life was gray, and using this experience to create my work seems to me an interesting challenge. To create works that are difficult to even notice, to create a visual image for something that has not yet been transformed into art and what, presumably, there is no grace. I say "presumably" because we are all made of one matter and one energy, and we are filled with the same light. I like the idea of turning concrete and mashed potatoes into something sublime. Is there something more complicated than turning the invisible and transparent into art?
What is the subject of your research? Are you yourself or something else?
The subject of my research is definitely not me. I selflessly use my appearance as a supporting structure to make great ideas visible. My work is dedicated to people and their problems in an era devoid of joy.
What problems do you face as a female artist?
As a female artist who refuses to act like a blue stocking, I suffer from the fact that people do not take me seriously, at least at the beginning. It seems that a woman can be successful in the art world only if she adapts to certain cliches. I refuse to do that. The big problem (as in any other field) is that the circle of women artists, who can be taken as an example, is very limited. I think that it is very important for women today to reject the idea of the muse, to stop working with male artists only to achieve success in the art world. Women should work independently and show that being a lonely artist is not depressive at all.
In many interviews you talk about how Stelarc and Orlan influenced your work (performance artists working with body modification. - Ed.). At the same time, you are obviously influenced by pop culture. Do you feel sympathy for any particular celebrity? Do you know fan feelings?
I cannot say that Stelarc and Orlan directly influenced me. I mentioned them because they also experimented with plastic surgery on the territory of modern art. I have no idols, and people who influence me are not from the sphere of modern art, but from the world of music, film and stand-up - for example, Louis C. Kay. It also seems to me that "Sweet Frances" is an important film, because it depicts an unusual love story and pays a lot of attention to work and female friendship. God, why not more such films?
Now I am inspired by the compositions that my mother makes on the fridge. She recently made a healing altar with my photo, which is surrounded by magnets representing different phases of my life. The ill-conceived artistic gestures of a housewife with no education are what I think are truly beautiful.