Presentation text 1998
A Night with Mike
Mastering the performance of this American artist, the humor of a tragicomic character: Mike, the common man
Tragic humor, at the same time subtle and pathetic, is the prevailing tone in Michael Smith’s performance. A well-known artist in the United States, specially in New York where he lives, Smith has developed during the production of various installations, videos and performances, a unique character as the leading role in his creations: Mike, a sort of alter ego embodied on scene.
According to the author, Mike is a common man who “believes in everything and does not understand anything” in his information-saturated world. Through his character Smith has lived trite scenes of daily life while acting in the course of 20 years, revealing Mike’s hillarious efforts in trying to obtain success but never succeeding. Mike appears on scene with exagerated gestures and facial expressions, unveiling an apparently silly surface, a subtle and sharp criticism to some of the most common symbols of modern life.
Under the generic title Mike’s Talent Show, Smith has presented his character in inumerous versions, in the form of installations, performances and video. In this performatic version at Videobrasil, Smith presents Mike preparing himself to go to a party that might never take place. Banalities and themes like exclusion and loneliness take up Mike’s thoughts throughout the day, in anticipation of an event doomed to disaster. “As he gets ready for the party, it becomes clear that his identity depends on the evaluation that other guests will make of him. Unfortunately, Mike’s notion about himself is determined by mass consumption mentality”, as the author defines.
Michael Smith was a painter before his interest turned to installations and video. This is how he learned about lighting resources and how to work with them. But video came into his life mainly as a means. “Electronic media generates images that only interest me as a means to develop a specific narrative”, he says. This narrative is woven through his character, Mike, clearly inspired on famous comediants from the movie screens like Buster Keaton. Among video artists Mike likes to mention William Wegman, one of his references: “an artist who made many videos of his dog”, as he explains.
Smith presents his creation with the same verve in installations, videos or performances - and many times combining all these alternatives - but has a special fancy for broadcast television. As a matter of fact, some of his works on video have been formatted specifically with this intention. Nevertheless, his creations have been shown in some of the most important spaces dedicated to videoart in the United States and Europe.
ASSOCIAÇÃO CULTURAL VIDEOBRASIL, "XII Videobrasil - Festival Internacional de Arte Eletrônica" [XII Videobrasil - International Electronic Art Festival]: from September 22 to October 11, 1998, pp. 85, São Paulo, SP, 1998.