Artist`s Statement
CHILO ERIBENNE'S BACKGROUND IS IN THE THEATRE AND THE POP INDUSTRY. IN FACT AN EARLY EXPERIENCE WITH FAME CAME WHEN SHE JOINED ACID HOUSE GROUP S’EXPRESS MUCH OF WHAT SHE LIVED THROUGH THEN AND SINCE HAS BECOME PART OF HER ARTISTIC LANGUAGE.
HER WORKS CONFRONT THE GLAMORISATION OF ADDICTION, OBSESSION AND MORAL DECAY IN POPULAR CULTURE AND THE ARTISTS' NEED FOR LOVE AND "FEELING SPECIAL" USING THE MEDIUMS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO AND PERFORMANCE. THE PHOTOS ARE RATHER LIKE FILM STILLS, PLAYING ON THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF HER OBSERVERS, REMINDING THEM OF ANY PARTICULAR STAR THE IMAGES MIGHT RELATE TO. HER VIDEOS AS WELL CONFRONT THE MASS EXPLOITATION AND HUMILIATION OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, OUR POSITION AS VOYEURS, THE ENJOYMENT OF ANOTHER’S DOWNFALL, OUR HUNGER FOR GOSSIP, DEATH AND A POSTHUMOUS LIFE.
“SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” IS SIMULTANEOUSLY AN HOMAGE TO AND CRITIQUE OF THE PRODUCTION OF THE IMAGES OF 1970’S AMERICAN MALE TEEN IDOLS WHOSE POSTERS ADORNED THE WALLS OF MILLIONS OF MATURING GIRLS. LONG HAIRED AND OFTEN ANDROGYNOUS, STARS LIKE LEIF GARRETT, MICHAEL JACKSON, SCOTT BAIO, ANDY GIBB AND DAVID CASSIDY WHET THE HORMONAL APPETITES OF SCHOOLGIRLS ALL OVER THE WORLD. THOSE IMAGES, TORN OUT FROM TEEN MAGS, WERE SELLOTAPED ONTO BEDROOM WALLS AND BECAME ALTARPIECES TO NOT ONLY SEX BUT ALSO A SOPHISTICATED FORM OF ADVERTISING AMOUNTING TO LUCRATIVE DIVIDENDS FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY BUT AT A HIGH PRICE FOR THE SINGER.
“SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” IS CONCERNED WITH THE BIOGRAPHICAL PARADOX BETWEEN THE IMAGE OF THE ARTIST VERSUS THE REAL STORY OF THE PERSON BEHIND IT. MANY OF THE ARTISTS IN THIS SERIES WERE CHILD STARS WHO TOOK THE ALMOST OBLIGATORY ROAD TO RUIN THROUGH DRUG ABUSE. AS MUCH AS IT IS A CLICHÉ, TOO MUCH FAME TOO FAST AND TOO YOUNG OFTEN SEEMS TO RESULT IN A POISONING OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE WHERE FAME IS MISTAKEN FOR LOVE. THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE BEE GEES’ YOUNGEST BROTHER ANDY GIBB’S SOLO CAREER ILLUSTRATES THAT, THOUGH HE WAS A WORLD STAR AFTER JUST ONE ALBUM, SELF DOUBT AND SELF DESTRUCTION CREPT IN ONCE THE FANS TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO THE NEXT SENSATION. SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH FROM A DRUG OVERDOSE, HE WAS REPORTED SAYING:
I’VE GOT ALL MY PROBLEMS BEHIND ME, I’M ABOUT TO SIGN MY NEW RECORD DEAL WHICH I CAN DO NOW WITH NO PRESSURE; AND EVERYBODY SEEMS TO THINK THAT I’M REALLY SUFFERING THROUGH ALL THE HEADLINES… IT’S GREAT FOR ME… I CAN GET ON WITH MY CAREER AT LAST.
SIX YEARS EARLIER HE SAID
I JUST FELL APART, I DON’T QUITE KNOW THE MAIN INGREDIENT THAT MADE ME FALL APART… I DIDN’T CARE, I DIDN’T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE, I DIDN’T CARE ABOUT LIFE.
THE INTERESTING QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT THAT TRIGGERS THE COLLAPSE OF THE SELF? LIEF GARRETT, NOW IN HIS LATE FORTIES SEEMS TO BE CONTINUING A CAREER OF DRUG ABUSE AND SELF DESTRUCTION SINCE HIS TEENS. MICHAEL JACKSON DIED IN 2009 AFTER YEARS OF ADDICTION TO PAINKILLERS.
MAGAZINES LIKE TEEN BEAT AND TIGER BEAT AND WERE THERE TO WATER THE BUDDING SEXUALITY OF PUBESCENT GIRLS. THEY PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE POP MACHINE AND NOT ONLY ON TEENAGERS’ FANTASIES. BUT IF “POP EATS ITS YOUNG” AS THE LATE MICHAEL HUTCHENCE ONCE SAID, WHO THEN IS THE DADDY?
HER WORKS CONFRONT THE GLAMORISATION OF ADDICTION, OBSESSION AND MORAL DECAY IN POPULAR CULTURE AND THE ARTISTS' NEED FOR LOVE AND "FEELING SPECIAL" USING THE MEDIUMS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO AND PERFORMANCE. THE PHOTOS ARE RATHER LIKE FILM STILLS, PLAYING ON THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUSNESS OF HER OBSERVERS, REMINDING THEM OF ANY PARTICULAR STAR THE IMAGES MIGHT RELATE TO. HER VIDEOS AS WELL CONFRONT THE MASS EXPLOITATION AND HUMILIATION OF THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY, OUR POSITION AS VOYEURS, THE ENJOYMENT OF ANOTHER’S DOWNFALL, OUR HUNGER FOR GOSSIP, DEATH AND A POSTHUMOUS LIFE.
“SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” IS SIMULTANEOUSLY AN HOMAGE TO AND CRITIQUE OF THE PRODUCTION OF THE IMAGES OF 1970’S AMERICAN MALE TEEN IDOLS WHOSE POSTERS ADORNED THE WALLS OF MILLIONS OF MATURING GIRLS. LONG HAIRED AND OFTEN ANDROGYNOUS, STARS LIKE LEIF GARRETT, MICHAEL JACKSON, SCOTT BAIO, ANDY GIBB AND DAVID CASSIDY WHET THE HORMONAL APPETITES OF SCHOOLGIRLS ALL OVER THE WORLD. THOSE IMAGES, TORN OUT FROM TEEN MAGS, WERE SELLOTAPED ONTO BEDROOM WALLS AND BECAME ALTARPIECES TO NOT ONLY SEX BUT ALSO A SOPHISTICATED FORM OF ADVERTISING AMOUNTING TO LUCRATIVE DIVIDENDS FOR THE MUSIC INDUSTRY BUT AT A HIGH PRICE FOR THE SINGER.
“SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT” IS CONCERNED WITH THE BIOGRAPHICAL PARADOX BETWEEN THE IMAGE OF THE ARTIST VERSUS THE REAL STORY OF THE PERSON BEHIND IT. MANY OF THE ARTISTS IN THIS SERIES WERE CHILD STARS WHO TOOK THE ALMOST OBLIGATORY ROAD TO RUIN THROUGH DRUG ABUSE. AS MUCH AS IT IS A CLICHÉ, TOO MUCH FAME TOO FAST AND TOO YOUNG OFTEN SEEMS TO RESULT IN A POISONING OF THE INDIVIDUAL’S PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE WHERE FAME IS MISTAKEN FOR LOVE. THE TRAGIC STORY OF THE BEE GEES’ YOUNGEST BROTHER ANDY GIBB’S SOLO CAREER ILLUSTRATES THAT, THOUGH HE WAS A WORLD STAR AFTER JUST ONE ALBUM, SELF DOUBT AND SELF DESTRUCTION CREPT IN ONCE THE FANS TURNED THEIR ATTENTION TO THE NEXT SENSATION. SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH FROM A DRUG OVERDOSE, HE WAS REPORTED SAYING:
I’VE GOT ALL MY PROBLEMS BEHIND ME, I’M ABOUT TO SIGN MY NEW RECORD DEAL WHICH I CAN DO NOW WITH NO PRESSURE; AND EVERYBODY SEEMS TO THINK THAT I’M REALLY SUFFERING THROUGH ALL THE HEADLINES… IT’S GREAT FOR ME… I CAN GET ON WITH MY CAREER AT LAST.
SIX YEARS EARLIER HE SAID
I JUST FELL APART, I DON’T QUITE KNOW THE MAIN INGREDIENT THAT MADE ME FALL APART… I DIDN’T CARE, I DIDN’T CARE ABOUT PEOPLE, I DIDN’T CARE ABOUT LIFE.
THE INTERESTING QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT THAT TRIGGERS THE COLLAPSE OF THE SELF? LIEF GARRETT, NOW IN HIS LATE FORTIES SEEMS TO BE CONTINUING A CAREER OF DRUG ABUSE AND SELF DESTRUCTION SINCE HIS TEENS. MICHAEL JACKSON DIED IN 2009 AFTER YEARS OF ADDICTION TO PAINKILLERS.
MAGAZINES LIKE TEEN BEAT AND TIGER BEAT AND WERE THERE TO WATER THE BUDDING SEXUALITY OF PUBESCENT GIRLS. THEY PLAYED AN IMPORTANT PART IN THE POP MACHINE AND NOT ONLY ON TEENAGERS’ FANTASIES. BUT IF “POP EATS ITS YOUNG” AS THE LATE MICHAEL HUTCHENCE ONCE SAID, WHO THEN IS THE DADDY?