In our postmodern world, one’s identity is fragmented. Quests for the “real” or “authenticity” come off as laughable if posed within the context of art making. Amie Dicke’s solo show Quote Unquote at Anat Ebgi Gallery has a certain air of embracing mediated constructions of the self. In order to search for realness, however, it’s important to define it. In Baudrillard’s book Simulations, he writes: “The very definition of the real has become: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction . . . The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced: that is, the hyperreal . . . which is entirely simulation.” Much of Dicke’s investigations have to do with the visual redundancies, voids and the metaphorical meanings assigned to objects, making this a fun show for the cerebral thinker, or for one who thinks there’s such a thing as “real” in relation to visual art.
Naturally, “Split Self” is one of the more central pieces in this show. It is two images of one woman’s face divided in the middle, a space in between, and then framed separately. In an awkwardly literal move, she splits the photo into two, and also removes the entire middle of the woman’s face. Her physiognomy is a question; she has no nose, mouth or chin, and only the corners of her eyes are visible. This same question is echoed by a sculpture that sits across from it, entitled “Split Stone” (2016), which consists of two stones laying next to each other; it’s either one cut in half or two arranged adjacent each other. That mystery is left to the viewer.
Read more:
http://www.craveonline.com/art/994803-review-amie-dicke-quote-unquote#tGjTvWpfm8FmHwVj.99
