the Cooper Union School of Art Interdisciplinary Seminar

Michael Smith

In The Greatest Country in The World Why Do You Have to Be an Asshole?

This lecture took place on February 2nd, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the Wollman Auditorium at the Cooper Union

Lecture introduction

Michael Smith will present documentation from various projects and a selection of videotapes featuring his eponymous performance persona, Mike. Mike, an innocent who continually falls victim to trends and fashions while negotiating an imperfect landscape, has been going for the American Dream for years, and inadvertently, intersects with social, cultural and political issues happening within our borders and beyond.

About Michael Smith

Michael Smith has shown his work extensively around the US, Canada and Europe at a variety of venues including museums, galleries, theaters, festivals, night clubs, on television and in the streets.  In New York City he has had solo exhibition and screenings at The Whitney Museum, The New Museum, The Christine Burgin Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. Most recently he was included in the 2008 Whitney Biennial and last spring/summer his retrospective, Mike’s World appeared at the ICA in Philadelphia. In Fall 2009 he and Mike Kelley will be doing a new collaborative project for The Sculpture Center in Long Island City. Smith is an Associate Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Texas @ Austin. He lives in Brooklyn and Austin.

Relevant Links

• Readings for this lecture are available on the student login page.
• Michael Smith performing as Baby Ikki at the 2008 Whitney Biennial
• Michael Smith at Electronic Arts Intermix.