The Mirror Stage

Video Stills from Keith Sullivan's Dasein
3 channel video installation for flat screen monitors
15:00 running time
Lycoming College's Digital Media Gallery
Williamsport, PA

While I watched Keith Sullivan pantomime drumming, singing, dancing, and dunking a basketball in his multi-channel video installation Dasein (pictured above), I imagined him doing the same. As I envisioned Mr. Sullivan viewing and listening to himself, he suddenly turned into me. Then, strangely, I stood there looking at myself.

To explain: I am a video artist who has also put myself in some of my work. While I always convince myself that I do so with good reason, others aren't so sure. Some of my closest friends recently told me that the biggest flaw in my art was my "egotism." I took note of their critique but didn't agree. It wasn't until I saw myself reflected in Sullivan's art and got a glimpse of what it must've been like (fictionally, of course) to see Narcissus gazing at his own reflection that I thought, "How vain!" Whatever points Sullivan has (and due to the mention of Ginsberg and semiotics, I'm sure he has many), they are lost in his enjoyment of himself.

And, much to my dismay, what is true of him in this respect is true of me. "Dammit," I thought, "I just like watching myself do things." Sullivan and I both disguise our mirror-impulses with philosophical backgrounds. We think that since we have read Heidegger, our being is more aware and therefore, innately artistic. This point reminds me of an episode of Malcolm in the Middle in which Francis berates Malcolm for his elitism. Francis says something to the effect of, "You think, because you're so smart, that you experience things deeper than the rest of us. So, you complain until you've made sure we all know how aware you are."

The title Dasein says it all. It's an exclusive term. if you've read philosophy you're in, if you haven't, you're out. And it's a German word for "existence" or "being-here." As if that were enough. "I'm here, I'm smart, and you should care."

To not be too hard on him (and me), I'll say that Sullivan does pull off some nuanced karaoke and his Jordanesque dunking is a hoot. One can tell that he's spent a lot of time perfecting his performances and the production value of his videos is impressive. The black backgrounds achieve an atmospheric quality like those old, minimalist Shakespeare plays one can find on VHS in library basements.

But, again, Sullivan is too satisfied with doing things that other people did because he is doing them. Sullivan's work, and some of mine, fits all too well into what Rosalind Krauss calls "The Aesthetics of Narcissism."

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Keith Sullivan is an interdisciplinary artist working in video, photography, performance, and installation. He received a Master of FIne Arts degree in visual art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2007) and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Emory University (2000), where he graduated with highest honors. His work has been shown in New York, Boston, and Atlanta.