All children like to dress up: slipping into costumes and putting on masks—all ways to test one’s identity. In each of the seventy photographs in her art project Who Am I, What Am I, Where Am I? Aura Rosenberg (*1949 in New York), who commutes between her home town and Berlin , works with a child and another artist. These three work together to produce, in a playful way, the individual portrait. While for children play is a way to learn, art sometimes presents adults with a renewed opportunity to play. An artist’s identity is often transported by his or her works. In these portraits, not only did the children get a different glimpse of themselves, many of the participating artists came away with a renewed sense of play. Mike Kelley works with many different sources of inspiration for his installations and assemblages. In the process he frequently reacts to repressive middle-class mechanisms and breaks many taboos. Our Edition Hatje Cantz stems from the collaboration involving Kelley, Rosenberg, and a little girl named Carmen. In this fascinating photo, the girl’s eyes and mouth are thickly made-up—a satirical comment on women’s make-up. She wears a purple evening gown that is much too big for her. Coquettishly, she brushes her hair out of her face, playing the role of the grande dame. She is exceptionally photogenic. At the same time, she appears vulnerable, almost neurotic, distanced from herself. Kelly has created a double-edge statement on the generally accepted image of femininity.
