‘A True Likeness of…’ (ICA, London Sept 2005)

The statement, ‘I certify that this image is a true likeness of…’ is required to be written on the back of a photograph to validate an individual when applying for an official document, such as a Passport. The reduction to a series of words, a mantra of identity, a ritualistic repetition in the symbolic, leads the state to validate that the photographic image is a true representation of the individual applying.

In our live artwork a rolled up map of the world is taken from between the legs of one of the artists and put through a shredding machine that is held above another artist’s naked body. The shredder and the body appear to form a new ‘machine’ - a cyborg.  The symbolic is fractured into a poetic snow that falls over and sticks to the body as it attempts to subjugate and identify.

'Part of the Exhibition: Anywhere in the World, David Medalla's London' 6 - 11th September, 2005 curated by Guy Brett.