Pierre Bismuth, Coming Soon, 2006
Video installation. Installation dimensions variable, video: 7 min 10 sec
Courtesy the David and Indrė Roberts Collection
Bombastic, recognisable and at times even down-right annoying, Coming Soon is a fast-paced compilation of the closing seconds of film trailers when those vague and allusive words, 'coming soon' are blasted across cinema screens. Bismuth’s compilation is made up of motion pictures by many of the large American film studios and production companies, discernible by the logos that accompany the phrase. Where it is possible to decipher what film is being referred to they are all major motion pictures released around 2002-03, including Johnny English, the original Jackass: The Movie, and the only ‘coming soon’ that is accompanied by moving image, Secretary with Maggie Gyllenhaal.
The term ‘coming soon’ is a verbal tease; it is a promise without guarantee, a suggestion of becoming without an indication of when and how that existence will manifest. Whilst ‘coming’ indicates an impending approach, the root of ‘soon’ actually comes from the Old English ‘sōna’ meaning ‘immediately.’ It throws up a nice tension in the word, especially when placed together. ‘Coming soon’ now simultaneously suggests it is taking place presently, at some future time. All these ‘comings’ stacked together means Bismuth has created a long string of suspense that offers no solace after the orchestrated build-up of excitement. Perhaps, then, he has created an exercise in over-eager expectation management, where the advent of the actual thing feels disappointing in comparison thanks to the excessive early hype.
Separating the words from their meaning or viewed as title cards alone, Coming Soon is a candid exploration of typography, soundtrack and film history. Just how these elements interact with moving image to create an atmosphere is the very vernacular of mainstream film. Artists working with video and more experimental filmmakers have long appropriated this language of big-budget cinema. Bismuth’s appropriation of Hollywood convention is a little different since he is directly involved in Hollywood as a screenwriter and has also directed his own feature, Where is Rocky II?, released in 2016. Coming Soon and his other artist films could therefore be viewed as a subversion from the inside out, semi-ironic and semi-in-awe.
Bismuth’s seamless existence within the logic of both the film industry and the contemporary art world and market is illustrative of the ongoing erosion of cultural boundaries and blending of visual art – centuries-long regarded as 'high culture,' with an unhealthy whiff of elitism – and cinema, as a form of mass entertainment. Bismuth points to this when adding a footnote to Joseph Beuys’ famous quote that 'everyone is an artist' by essentially saying ‘everybody is an artist, but only the artists know it':1
1 Ben Eastham, 'Pierre Bismuth: Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria', Frieze, 20 April 2015. Last accessed 10 September 2020
Each one of us creates at each moment of the day in the way we live and understand reality. The artist’s sole quality is to be aware of this and to make it manifest in the context of art and in accordance with the artistic conventions to which he subscribes. Artists are artists only because they define themselves as such . . .² (Pierre Bismuth, 2000)
2 Pierre Bismuth, 'Never believe an artist who says their work is about nothing', translated by Charles Penwarden, Gallery Newspaper. Available at www.janmot.com/text.php?id=10, Sep-Oct 2001. Last accessed 10 September 2020
So, what to make of this idea of manifesting within particular conventions? Linguistically and stylistically Coming Soon ticks those boxes quite literally, playing with the idea of a future manifestation and crossing over between different cinema and art. There is, however, one convention that holds all this together: (re)appropriation, which has become particularly prolific and visible in all cultural fields since the mid-20th century. Easy access to digital technologies accelerated this practice from the 1990s. Bismuth has created an artwork whose sole material is copy-pasted bootlegs of existing media, remixed or reworked. Coming Soon is a true ‘prosumer’ piece that messes with both the traditional conventions of the ‘auteur’ in film or the ‘genius’ in art. Bismuth has turned these trailers into one big tease.