Simulacrum: Its All Bullshit!

Simulacrum; a word that I had never come across until it appeared on the screen as the title for Markidis’ video. Having never encountered the word, I resorted to the inter web for some research assistance and Mirriam Webster was the first to offer a helping hand. According to her holy highness of definitions the meaning of simulacrum is as follows: “ slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance.”

As the video first opens Markidis and trustee video companion McPhail situate themselves in front of the camera making last minute adjustments to their attire. Markidis pulls his hood over his head, and as he pushes his glasses to rest higher up on the bridge of his nose, he looks to McPhail and asks “you ready?” With that said, a jump cut exposes the two of them in what appears to be a self-induced fit of hysteria. Across the bottom of the screen a caption appears informing the viewer “these are actors, not real people.” From this point forward the validity of the emotions displayed by Markidis and McPail comes into question as we begin to wonder if we should be laughing with them or at them. The cut to camera B provides us with an alternate perspective as it reveals the artificiality of the set and the interactions that James and Ian have assembled.

After we join James for a brief road trip somewhere out West, we travel back to the studio where he repeatedly tells us we are watching a documentary. Just as the laughter in the beginning of this piece felt forced, a certain level of disingenuousness is maintained as Markidis develops a winking-type tic as he repeats himself over and over again “this is a documentary.” Contrary to what James is saying, captioning appears once again at the bottom of the screen, informing us “this is not a documentary.” Are we to believe that Markidis is telling the truth?
It s when a narrative voice over is introduced that the video begins to develop into its own catch 22. “You don’t get it. We’ll never click,” Markidis begins to explain in his voice over establishing a lack of connectivity with his viewers. “My only goal in life is to reach complete understanding. I don’t care about your understanding. I don’t care about the way you look at me or the way you understand me. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things,” Markidis continues to divulge before cutting back to the footage of the two of them in the studio. Ian’s voice places him behind the camera as he attempts to direct James positioning on set. Ian’s tone quickly escalates to a heightened level of frustration as he struggles to position James correctly within the frame. The juxtaposition of the actions on screen with the narrative we have previously listened to makes for one rather large contradiction.

Markidis wraps up his video by declaring, “This is some bullshit,” and in keeping with the theme of the video, this statement is untrue. Markidis builds a wall around himself through his use of contradictory language while his actions read as the complete opposite. Simulacrum embodies a superficiality in which his viewers have difficulty relating to. However, when Markidis brands his work and theory as bullshit, are we to believe him, or should we wait for his next eye-winking tic to suddenly develop.

Advertisement