Milwaukee, WI
6/2/13 4:40 PM
In her video “Listen 2 Me Work,” Heather Warren-Crow has figured out a way to mash up a variety of heretofore unrelated contemporary modes: the do-it-yourself setup and narcissistic self-centeredness of a video blog; the impenetrable yet naggingly profound sentiment of an academic post-Marxist lecture; the tacky, puerile yet sexy tastelessness of a pop music video. What this combination actually looks like is surprisingly logical: a cute redhead in high heel boots and pink hot pants with a stuffed bunny taped to her chest, a poolside dais, and a PhD. There may indeed be deep layers of rich, critical content to unearth here, but what strikes most immediately is the truly scary surface of it all, how easily Warren-Crow slides between the lingo of an academic and of a texting teenager, and how hollow it all ultimately feels. Surface is where we’re at, bloggers, intellectuals and celebrities one and all.
—Lori Waxman