Het Nieuwe Instituut Online
A live conversation with artist Bogomir Doringer, who will discuss surveillance, fear, lust, temptation - and his contribution to The Hoodie. Recent developments around coronavirus and the isolation it imposes add a new, topical charge to Doringer’s ongoing research into hidden faces, intimacy and social interaction. What do his hoodie installation, and earlier projects such as I Dance Alone and FACELESS, mean now, at a time when clubs are closed, and face masks are selling out?
AI-generated image from Bogomir Doringer’s commissioned work The Hoodie, developed in the context of the exhibition of the same name, Het Nieuwe Instituut, 2019.
‘Detour guides’ Florian and Asha, who are currently unable to give physical tours of The Hoodie, interview the artist about the work commissioned by Het Nieuwe Instituut and curator Lou Stoppard. They ask, who has the right to wear what? And how does the hoodie relate to both fear and seduction, to privacy issues and socio-political struggles? Naturally, together they also reflect on the outbreak of the new coronavirus and its impact on social, cultural and political life.
“The hoodie constantly swings between erotic tension (Eros) and fear (Thanatos) and it enables the wearer to exclude themselves from, or even connect with, others in the same way a mask can. The hoodie offers a small degree of protection in an age when privacy is a privilege reserved for the few and identities are adjusted and exploited by technology.”
