Sea of Men

Jennifer Chan’s exhibition at Galleri CC in Malmö juxtaposes videos and web chats with objects made from perishable materials. The theme is affinity, on- and off-line.

(Source: Christine Antaya's review of the work)

1995: Did Bill Clinton really?
1996: Can men and women be friends?
1997: Do men get violent because of Marilyn Manson?
1998: Should men dress better?
1999: Which Backstreet Boy Is Gay?
2000: Can men be ethically non-monogamous
2001: Is it cool to have gay friends?
2002: Can men and women really be friends?
2003: Are men making more money than women
2004: Do men have to go to war?
2005: Can men be feminists?
2006: Do men like dancing alone?
2007: Does metrosexual mean gay?
2008: Are men still making more money than women
2009: Should men get alimony?
2010: Is it true that men eat their young?
2011: Should men get paternity leave
2012: Are men capable of childrearing?
2013: Do men have feelings?
2014: Male retirees need videogames and cheetos
2015: Are men too fragile? Are men terrorists?
2016: Should men chop their dicks off?

It is 2015. Masculinity enters its forty-something-ith year of decline since the Second Wave. Paleo diets, birth control, steroids, night shifts, climate change, gun control, mortgage loans, and Sex And The City spelled the End of Men.

I looked you up on the internet. Swipe right for a good time. What are you but another lamb on the market?

Not all men are islands. Some float aimlessly from shore to shore. Others create empires on their continents. And even more cling to each other like hovering algae.
Some are dense and stocky like marble, stale like a full-bodied wine that's been left open for too long. Some are elusive and charming, chameleons sunbathing in plain sight.

I remember every man I've kissed, most of their mouths overtook mine and their tongues wriggled with wet enthusiasm. Some men hunt and some men steal. Some swim upstream to spawn and disappear.
You are floating in a sea of men. Their bodies slither around you like eels on a dancefloor.

Sea of Men shows my admiration and contempt for the best and worst of masculinity.

Jennifer Chan makes remix videos, gifs and websites that contend with gendered affects of media culture.

(Source: Gallery catalogue description.)