Democrazy

December 1, 2008–January 1, 2009
The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue

How are we manipulated by strategies of political communication? How do fame and the power of the media play into this dynamic, and what is the role of democracy? A lobby installation and building façade activation presented in conjunction with Thoughts on Democracy, Francesco Vezzoli’s Democrazy explored these issues and how they’re expressed through contemporary visual language.

Democrazy, consisting of a pair of video works, was first presented at the opening of the Italian Pavilion at the 52nd International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in June 2007. It is based on a fictional election campaign with two hypothetical candidates played by media superstars: American actress Sharon Stone, and French philosopher and author Bernard-Henri Lévy. Each candidate’s political vision is presented in an election advertisement created by the artist, and produced in collaboration with teams of political experts, one led by Mark McKinnon, George W. Bush’s media advisor in 2004, and the other by Jim Mulhall, part of Bill Clinton’s creative team in 1996. With their on-point, extremely precise, and seductive messages, Vezzoli’s video works highlight the candidates’ popularity, confidence, and their seductive capacity to use the media to bolster their images.

Outside on The Wolfsonian’s Washington Avenue façade, oversized graphics announced to passersby “Make America Strong.” Together, these projects delved into the manipulative strategies of political communication, as well as ideas about fame, the power of media, and the role of democracy.