I propose...

...to film myself performing a series of impersonations of artists reciting statements about their practice or re-enacting interviews they have given. These statements will be true to their original texts except that references to the first person singular (I, my) will be switched with the second person singular (you, your).  Where reference to the ‘artist’ or the ‘viewer/audience’ is made, these terms will also be switched. 

Artists and texts I am intending to try impersonating:

• Jasper Johns – Untitled statement, 1959 
  
• Claes Oldenberg – ‘I am for an art’
  
• Duchamp – The Creative Act

The performances will be genuine attempts to impersonate the featured artists, including mimicking accents and gestures. Cues for clothing and sets will be taken from existing footage of the artists giving interviews. The performances will be addressed directly to the camera, in the style of talking heads or the framing of the interviewee on talk shows. Each impersonation will (ideally) be shot in single takes, without the need for cutaways. Where the footage of the artist is in black and white, the film of the impersonation will be represented as black and white. The final film will be edited as a sequence of separate interviews, each separated by a few seconds of blank screen. The piece itself may have a title, but that’s still to be decided.

The film will be exhibited on a small TV or monitor, placed on the seat of a standard plastic chair from one of the studios. The sound should be channeled through the speakers of the TV/monitor (ie. rather than through headphones) as the piece should address the viewer and the group show.

illustration of intended installation in gallery: