Yesterday was the last day for "sweetness" at the Deitch gallery. I only discovered about the "sweetness" video by chance a week earlier when I was looking for something to do in the weekend & discovered, literally at the last minute, that Fischerspooner were performing live that weekend, and that they have a video showing at the next door gallery until May 25th.

So we went to see "sweetness" yesterday, at the last day it was showing (which was also, incidentally or not, my 30th birthday). we were almost alone in the gallery, other than me & Gil there was only one woman sitting on the floor & another man standing by the doorway.
When the approximately 10 minutes video ended, the woman asked me if I liked it. I said yes, & she asked me why. I said because it was so grandiose, because it was the bizarre combination of a wild cabaret, film noir and pop video, and because I very much like the song itself. She said she's an art critic that was sent to write about Fischerspooner, and was trying to figure out what makes them so different than any other pop group.
Well, I said, they are much more than a pop group. They do their music, but they also have a huge cabaret live show, but most importantly, they are very self aware and are interested, the way I see it, not only in the performance or music but at the whole concept of the process of glamorization and becoming a part of pop culture. I think that this is also what makes them a part of the art world, the analysis & scrutiny of this whole process, a close examination and reevaluation of not only the creation of a pop icon, but also of the common conception of performer-audience relationship, performance and media, and performer as a privet versus public persona. In other words, they are challenging every common conception of a pop group.

But, she asks, are you sure that all of what you see in them is intentional? are you sure that this is not coincidental, or a product of a clever PR?

I'm sure, I say, because it is far too brilliant to be coincidental. I actually haven't thought about it until seeing the video, but afterwards I realized that FS are working in a few levels, each slightly different in it's effect, which is a creation of a full and very colorful picture.
If you would only hear the CD, you might get the impression that this is a regular pop-electro group, even though they are a very good one.
If you would only watch the show, you might feel ridiculed by the playback, Casey's semi reluctance to perform, or the group's constant interfering with the songs and mocking of the audience and themselves as lousy performers.
If you would only see the Video, you might get the impression that this is a bizarre looking band, with very good make up artists, designers, & film directors on their side, that help them create a polished, intriguing and sexy image.
But the full effect of Fischerspooner is combined by all of those components brought together: the provocative, almost cold and slightly condescending performance is balanced by Casey Spooner's authenticity on the CD, where even in the almost cold tones or dramatized moments you can hear and feel true intention, passion and emotion, while on the other hand, the "popness" of the CD is challenged by the exaggerated, lip sinced, ironic & self aware performance, that lifts the FS show far above any common pop concert. Finally, the videos and photos (being presented in an art gallery) accompanying both the music and performance, make you ask yourself, like when first discovering Marcel Duchamp and he's toilet-fountain, What is FS? Are they the toilet? the fountain? or are they something new, bright and sparkling?

So I left her there, after referring her to the FS (beautifully designed) website, and drove off with Gil. But now, a day after, the video still haunts me, the conversation & analysis still buzzing in my head, and I have to ask myself, what is it about FS that makes me admire them so much, even after knowing them for almost a year now? what do they mean to me?

Well, FS is freedom, passion, creativity and ambition, actually. Being wild, passionate and chaotic, and at the same time being accurate, calculating and planning every move to the very last detail. Being stupid, grotesque and over melodramatic, along with being extremely intelligent, soulful and touching.

Casey Spooner is the physical embodiment of FS (not undermining Warren Fischer for a second. Without him there would be no music, which without FS would merely seem a well produced drag show). He's stage persona is provocative and silly yet cold and almost rude, while the recording studio Casey Sounds so personal, sexy, and emotional (or at least making you think that he is).
Being the Visual representative of FS in the show and media (warren doesn't go on stage), everything channels into him, he's face and body the center of attention. I can't help but love and hate him, envy him without knowing anything about him, admire and despise him and he seems to me Appalling and sexy at the same time. He IS life with it's ambivalence, he IS freedom, and that is why I cannot let go.

FS inspire me, they excite me, make me forget the routine of life, make me feel, make me want to find that force and energy in myself.
They are life as I dream it.