A.A. Bronson’s Through the Looking Glass: His Personal Identity as a Canadian Artist Essay

When one views and analyzes some of the specific art work of noted modern artist, A. A. Bronson, it is easy to see that his art is indeed a microcosm of an integral, unique, and discrete part of the Canadian artistic identity. The particular piece chosen here for consideration is his installation entitled, Through the Looking Glass.

This selection consists of twelve pieces, each one being a representation of the dozen chapters of the 1871 Lewis Carroll’s sequel to Alice in Wonderland. Initially, this work of art was a web project, primarily rendered for the October 2000 Vienna Secession exhibition. In 2009, the artist accompanied his work with a book, a new volume, called AA through the Looking Glass.

This itself, is a collection of twelve silver-coated frames with various Carroll quotes, published by Michele Didier. (Bronson 2009). Thus, his work Through the Looking Glass is the one of the best works that reflect the author’s vision of reality and the one that reflects the author’s sense of Canadian identity.

Most noteworthy is the first one, a very striking photograph of Bronson’s previous partner Felix, soon after his demise. In Faking Death: Canadian Art Photography and the Canadian Imagination by Penny Cousineau-Levine, this art critic spoke of the selection as well, on page 63.

She stated that “Animating the Canadian photograph, of every conceivable situation or thing, is the constant parsing as what is seen into two dimensions, here and there- and very often, life and death” (Cousineau-Levine 2003, 63).

Surely, it is no simple feat to categorize A. A Bronson’s artistic accomplishments of more than 30 years, nor is it so simple to readily and easily delineate his significant Canadian artistic contributions. Diana Nemiroff describes this on the website for the Canada Council of the Arts, in her piece, AA Bronson: Reflections on the Person.

She observes that his art has evolved in many directions, and that his identity as a Canadian artist has actually shifted, over time. This, she says, is mostly because he was expressly challenging various modes of thinking and performing, as he lived his life and published his art. (Canada Council for the Arts – The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media, n. d.).

This tendency of Bronson to consistently decry and challenge preconceived notions on artist identity took place during much of his 25 year tenure as one of the three individuals, within the General Idea group.

For Bronson’s work, both as a solo performer, and as a General Idea participant (1969–1994), have led the way in both a cultural and topical manner. Although Bronson is Canadian, and an artist, his reputation and performance transcend his country’s boundaries. This also, has appeared entirely intentional.

Bronson has certainly proven himself true to the idea that modern Canadian and world art is realistic, gritty, and innovative. He is solitary and personal, but also collective and universal. Also, consider that his recent work has been influenced also, through his former associations and relationships with the two other members of the General Idea.

He has experimented with the experiences of AIDS and the gay lifestyle in some of his pieces. Now, as earlier, he’s been involved in prolific and varied media, like performance, publishing, sculpture, and painting. Also, past and present, he’s been concerned with popular culture.

The works by the author revolutionized together with his personal and artistic growth. Works created in collaboration with other artists reflected his Canadian identity, however, his individual works, such as Through the Looking Glass, reflect not only the authors’ national identity and personal vision of reality, but his development as a single personality with the major focus on his inner world.

This tendency of Bronson to consistently decry and challenge preconceived notions on artist identity took place during much of his 25 year tenure as one of the three individuals, within the General Idea group.

For Bronson’s work, both as a solo performer, and as a General Idea participant (1969–1994), have led the way in both a cultural and topical manner. Although Bronson is Canadian, and an artist, his reputation and performance transcend his country’s boundaries. This also, has appeared entirely intentional.

Exploring his art as a representation of his personality, we can conclude that his works provide a great contribution to the evolution of the Canadian art. He deals with problems that “touch his heart” as a personality and Canadian. What is so significant about his works? First of all, as any contemporary artist, Bronson explores historical and social dimensions that influenced the development of the Canadian nation.

However, he did it from the perspective of his own personality. He explores subjects that are crucial for the world in which he lived and are universal for humanity. He interpreted his Canadian identity as part of the global society. Indeed, Canadian art was shaped by different traditions from around the world.

Thus, in can be considered that his Canadian identity is a mixture of different visions and cultures. At the same time, he tries to define himself as an individual.

Through the Looking Glass is a great demonstration how the artists attempts to express understanding of the Canadian identity. The work consists of twelve pieces of glass.

Each piece symbolizes different dimension of human soul which is described by citations taken from the book by Lewis Carroll, for example, one of the citations is “unless – unless we’re all part of the same dream. Only I do hope it’s MY dream…” (Caroll 2010, 73), which means that the artist associates himself and his Canadian identity with the rest of the world.

Thus, he hopes that he is a part of the world as he shares the problems of modern society and he cares about future. However, at the same time, the author tries to provide the idea that he is an individual and, as any individual, he is not going to lose his identity, he hopes that his life is in his hands. Another significant citation is, “You see, a minute goes by so fearfully quick” (Caroll 2010, 68). The issue of time is in focus in this passage.

What is time and how it changes personality is another theme considered by the author. In this piece, he provides that time is relative substance, every individual has his/her personal perception of time. Thus, this piece of art is very philosophical.

The author not only addresses cultural traditions of his country, he focuses the audience’s attention on the fact that his Canadian identity, as well as identity of all Canadians was formed under the influence of different factors, such us, culture, society, interaction with other nations. The “collectiveness” of his Canadian identity is represented through the techniques used to create the work.

Different pieces represent different aspects of the authors’ life and psychology. The pieces are different from each other, however, when put together, they form a single reflection of a single personality. Thus, living in a diverse society, the artist absorbs everything that happens around him and these events influence his personality, which is as a broken class stick together in a single piece.

Presently, A.A. Bronson continues to work on his own and to show internationally. He’s been the recipient of many awards, along with his deceased partners, and later, as a sole artist. Peter Gallo touches on this in his article, “The enduring ephemera of General Idea,” in Art in America, Mar. 2005, on pages 80-83. (Gallo 2005, 80-83)

However, in viewing Through The Looking Glass, the art student must not only understand the precursor General Idea movement, but also what came before. Next, although his identity was mostly one of loss when his two close associates of the General Idea passed away in 1994, he finally broke away from this tendency, to some degree.

This fact is evident in viewing his Through The Looking Glass, as an artist composing his Secession, and through his display of the photographs of his dead friend. Here and elsewhere, he thus displayed a degree of moving on, and of separateness.

Therefore, as varied as is the Canadian landscape and its peoples, so is the artistic identity of A. A. Bronson. He, too, exhibits elements of disparity and diversity.

Unconventional, gay, not afraid to touch any subject, to include decay and death, he expands his horizons well beyond the poetic and the sublime. Surely, for many who view his epic work, Through the Looking Glass, they will find the collection as concrete evidence of his artistic identity.

Works Cited

Bronson, A. A. 1994. Felix, 1994. A. A. BRONSON. Web.

Bronson, A. A. 2009. AA Bronson: life and works. Brussels: mfc – michéle didier.

Bronson, A. A. 2009. Felix, 1994. Secession. Web.

Caroll, Lewis. 2010. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. New York: Cosimo, Inc.

Gallo, Peter. 2005. The enduring ephemera of General Idea. Art in America: 80-83.

Levine-Cousineau, Penny. Faking death: Canadian art photography and the Canadian imagination. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003.

The Canada Council for the Arts – The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts 2002. Web.