An essay by Gabrielle Moser accompanies the exhibition (PDF)

A living document is a term used to describe a document that is open-ended. It can be edited, updated and co-authored unlike static documents, such as printed encyclopedia. The term is pertinent in this context: the exhibit investigates my identity using information gathered from numerous external sources. The variety of voices that help co-author these works points to the open-ended nature of identity itself, how it shifts in particular contexts, and how it continues to evolve. Here, the word living is both adjective and verb.

Living Documents: Dr. Frankenstein’s Guide to Self-Portraiture is a conceptual exhibit including video, video installation and personal documents. The work manipulates information, documents, and research methods in order to create performative representations of identity and memory that highlight the disconnection between personal data and persona. My project begins by surveying over 75 of my friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances and ex-girlfriends about my own identity. The information is converted into an identity profile with statistics, pie charts and graphs. The raw data is brought to life in a series of performance videos with Dutch actress Jacqueline van de Geer. The cheeky subtitle of the exhibit points back to me as the maker, but not necessarily a maker with full control over his creation. Jacqueline van de Geer, the Boris Karloff of this experiment, primarily uses improvisation to twist my persona into something both ridiculous and monstrous. Family photographs are also investigated as a site of identity formation and reenacted as durational video performances. My project is to inject life into static documents creating performative interpretations of my identity that are banal and absurd, imagined and true, contrived and sincere.

 

Robert Lendrum (b. 1979) was raised between the suburbs of Toronto and the rural hamlet of Fallbrook, Ontario. An emerging artist working in video, performance and documentary, he received his BFA from the University of Western Ontario and his MA in Media Studies at Concordia University. Now completing his MFA at Ryerson University, he has exhibited in Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and Ann Arbor. He currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario.