[ Full mime jobs ]

(2019)

GALLERY

[ Full mime jobs ]

(2019)

GALLERIA

Performance series.

2019- ongoing.

Full mime jobs is a series of projects in which the artist learns a craft and incorporates it into her artistic practice. Gurgone re-presents the chosen job to the public, in relational/participatory contexts and installations, playing and interacting with the visitors. The series stems from the intention to break down the barrier between reality and the fictitious by immersing the audience in extra-daily situations, recognizable and yet absurd and implausible.

"To make people feel at ease and encourage them to take part in my projects, I must carry out a meticulous work of mimesis: if the participants notice from the start that the tools or materials, I am using are fake (just like chalk instead of actual yoghurt) they just won’t buy it. The illusion is supposed to generate confusion around ordinary items and make them uncanny. To make the trick efficient every time, then, I need to conduct accurate research. I ended up studying the cleaning methods and the tools that are used in chemistry laboratories, looking up online how to open an ice-cream parlor, and even memorizing the different cuts of meat, how to stuff sausages, how to bind roasts and so on."

Full mime jobs thus becomes a way to escape the stereotype according to which being an artist is not a serious job. Moreover, by proposing experiments and social games within everyone's reach, Gurgone invites participants to engage in the recombination of a craft in a personal key, and thus discover and reduce the distance that usually exists between the observer and the producer.