creamed, 2004
stills from three channel dvd projections
dimensions variable
_________________________________
Creamed consists of 3 parts. The installation allows the viewer to travel from space to space watching the work in sequence: 1, 2 and 3. Each part is projected larger than life dimensions.
Creamed 1 shown in real time, explores the tedious nature of art preparation and pre-production. Two women dressed in identical uniforms prepare numerous cream pies that fill the entire frame. Creamed 1 is clearly focused on the preparation for the intended performance in Creamed 2. Creamed 1 concludes with the completion of all the pies and fades into the black of the plastic backdrop. Each of the women has assigned herself with a designated task. The brunette woman dispenses whipped cream into each tin pie plate and is caught routinely sucking the remaining cream from each of the cans that she empties. The blonde tops each of the pies with a cherry. At the conclusion of her task the blonde licks her cream covered fingers and looks toward the camera as she is caught in guilty pleasure.
The simple gestures performed by the women and the stereotypical props are loaded with obvious cheap implications. The plastic, the cans of whipped cream and bright red cherries in the low budget setting, suggest the making of a cheap porn flick or bad performance documentation. The make shift, but formalist considerations, poke fun at the serious history of performance and domestic art.
In Creamed 2 two women are caught in the midst of a whipped cream pie fight. Completely covered in cream they wrestle within the black shiny plastic set. The cream lubricates their wrestling movements. The set becomes a large mixing dish in which the women’s bodies act as blades in a blender creating the artwork. This scene humorously portrays the production stage of performance while making references to art making and cooking. The set covered in splatters and drips of cream are reminiscent of action paintings, Jackson Pollock, Cecily Brown, Yves Klein and Francis Bacons wrestling paintings. The sounds of crinkling of tin sound like mechanical scuttling and conceal the sounds from the women. The playfulness transforms the sexiness of whipped cream wrestling into a non-sexual robotic performance. The action is looped so that is repeats itself forever creating a three dimensional sculptural form. Against the back wall drips of cream ride up and down the screen, an action painting in action, the eternal artistic struggle. The work is done and undone in an endless spectacle.
Creamed 3 reflects on aspects of post- production, clean up, and the cliché girl on girl shower scene. Two women are caught in the act of showering together fully dressed. However, this is not a wet T-shirt contest. The sexual implications become lost and transform into a romantic and painterly portrait enhanced by the sound of rushing water. The blonde’s mouth is agape and the profile of the brunette creates a very renaissance and statuesque likeness. The water vibrates down a seemingly still image. The sound manipulates time and visually extends the duration and movement of the work.
all images © Diana Shpungin & Nicole Engelmann 2000-2007