“Do you think you need really big tits to be a great actress?”

Georgia Von Boster, Faux Life, 2001

291 Gallery presents a solo exhibition of film, photography and video by George Bolster. A study of failure and misguided aspirations, following the highs and mainly lows of a wannabe film starlet.

After a busy year of art terrorism George Bolster went to L.A. to regroup and plan new strategies for the destruction of the art world. Instead he hung up his balaclava, got drunk and experienced shit TV, theme parks and general slumming with the mainstream. In a drunken vision this appeared above his head in its true form as a parasite feeding on the surface tension of culture.He decided to commence new work immediately and began distilling and deconstructing the mainstream(instead of slagging it off in bars for a change).

You are your own museum. He discovered surface culture. A culture based on the external self, it is a hyper-visual culture materialistic, aesthetic, status and prestige fixated. The origins of this phenomena can be found in the film making and star system in Hollywood. The Art within this culture is the form, shape and epidermis of the body. This animated sculpture does not age, never gets out of shape and lasts forever preserved on film. Anything internally problematic can be dealt with, it goes into development (therapy), is edited (fat farm), rehashed (rehab), rewritten (P.R.) and made palatable for mass consumption. No product must provoke thought.

Faux Life was filmed in Hollywood, it functions as a dissection of media culture. It takes real life and documentary genres and questions theis supposedly faithfull translation of the truth as it encompasses the subject within these formats. Merging his study of failure is an aspirational enviroment with his deconstruction of the documentary genre he brings us pieces, which expose and question the agenda of the documentary maker.

We don’t watch documentaries we see highly manipulated products which are made with ratings in mind.

These pieces employ a completely unedited approach threfore avoiding manipulation through denying and editorial priviledge, what you see is waht you get. We are bombarded with popstars, airport, Aiya Napa and countless other real life shows , how much of the original intent and context of the footage remains in the product we actually see, how much is hammed up by the subjects and how much is projected by the crew during the takes and in the diting afterwards. Is there any hope of truth as represented in an edited programme, where is the documentary maker’s agenda?

The subject a transsexual brings the documentary maker on a tour of Hollywood to see the sign and hear his plans for fame and domination.

Exhibition from 29.06-01.07.01, 12-6pm, Faux Life screenings 9pm-11pm (except Sunday) Private View: Thurs 28 June 8pm-10pm

For more info check: www.georgebolster.com