Common Love,
Aesthetics of Becoming
April 27–June 11, 2011
Guy Ben-Ner
Stealing Beauty, 2008
Single-channel video, color, sound
17 min. 40 sec.
Courtesy the artist and Postmasters Gallery
Filmed without permission in several IKEA stores throughout New York, Berlin, and Tel Aviv, Guy Ben-Ner's video Stealing Beauty presents a family (portrayed by the artist, his wife and two children) in a parody of the sitcom, with showroom interiors and the occasional interruption of oblivious shoppers and multilingual loudspeaker announcements. Although possessing several elements of visual slapstick and comedic timing, the scenes and conversations among the family become increasingly tense as social control is made visible, as well as the mass-marketing of lifestyle and utopia.