Chloe Wise - In loveliness of perfect deeds
2022 | CHLOE WISE
IN LOVELINESS OF PERFECT DEEDS
MONTREAL
May 28 - July 9
Chloe Wise, 2022, Oil on linen. Photo Credit: Morganne Boulden
Blouin Division is pleased to present Chloe Wise’s new exhibition, IN LOVELINESS OF PERFECT DEEDS. Featuring a conversation pit composed of doormats that evade any explicit evidence of welcoming, Wise’s immersive installation undermines its purported physical use. A series of portraits presides over the installation, calling to mind the prosaic nature of the neighborhood’s many faces, one after another, indistinguishable, individual, indifferent. Recognizable fragments, both visual and verbal, are brought into abstruse dialogue, exploring tacit social boundaries through a kaleidoscopic catalogue of the familiar.
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While navigating towards the evasive yet compulsory destination of Getting Along, the importance of which is undisputed, there is not much room for disorientation or error. Within groups, interactions seem to take place naturally; somewhere between spontaneity and prescription there is reflex: unwritten social code as unquestioned second nature. Survival instincts undergird etiquette. There is a self-serving side to morality in the sense that any consideration of “morals” already implies an idea of what the accepted moral framework ought to be. To “get along” is to mutually comprehend what would be good to care about, that it would be good to care about good things at all.
While disagreements and ruptures are inevitable, it is the duty of the mask, in its form as face, to negotiate passage towards the promising backdrop of the Province of Peace. According to Levinas, “don’t kill me!” is the ethical essence subtended from the face-to-face encounter. Without – or rather, in spite of language – the face negotiates, declares, invites, and forbids. The face’s performance must appeal to two audiences at once: the outward spectator of the exterior, and the individualized space of the interior. At best, both will agree on the plausibility of the performance, penning a somewhat coherent review: five stars! Stumble through the lines and this impression may be perceived somewhere closer to cynicism than genuineness, or worse.
This very burden of maintaining a sound and steady character obliges us to be well-versed in the way of the stage (that is, if we know what’s good for us). This theatre is vital, this ignorance bliss, this unquestioned life certainly worth living. To be suspicious of the script is to lose trust in the production; to hear, somewhere, the words ‘and scene!’ is to break character. To recognize the limits of the stage, to storm off of it, would be a lonely walk since the show, of course, must– and will– go on.
If our self-concept is not only who we say we are, but a composite of what we have, and where, and who we can convince of it, our homes become our containers, the site of all the proof we’ve amassed. Our homes are made of the secrets we only half-tell; they comprise the stories we embellish, but still blush when telling, persuaded by the scarcity of such confessions. Our closets house the skeletons, our bedrooms house the closets. If, upon entry, one is welcomed by a polite warning, “After you, sir!”, what role does the platitude play in preserving the dubious durability of the very social infrastructure we take for granted? If a “Welcome!” was truly sincere, would it, taken to its logical conclusion, become an invitation towards burglary? The doorbell is the song of the neighbor’s proposition, an abject request from just outside of the fence. The fence cheerfully denotes that this grass is, to you, greener, and its side, other. The doormat suggests you needn’t be offended as you attempt (if you’d be so kind) to dislodge the probable dirt off your feet before you enter this immaculate vestibule’s untainted pasture. It is understood: you can join us, you can enter, you should make yourself at home–but temporarily, politely, and within reason. Have a seat, but don’t stay awhile. Stay a while but don’t leave the light on, come on in, don’t be a stranger, but please, understand the difference between housewarming and trespassing.
-Chloe Wise, May 2022