Trocadero 2005 - The artist’s boyfriend wears a mask of Delilabros’ late father as they both step into a photomaton to have a cheap photo-drawing made of them. The camera moves to the booth’s screen and we are left with a new image, composed of reality and fiction, whereby Delilabros and his father are drawn together, in an entirely personal fantasy. Using modes of representation to reconstruct relationships and memories, Delilabros confronts the memory of his father and consequently questions the boundaries of the father-son relationship. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“I knew you were waiting” is a remake of the music promo of the same name by George Michael’s and Aretha Franklin. Delilabros explores his relationship with the original narrative and his role as viewer (both inside and outside the work) by re-imagining the original video. The basic elements of the original video, including the title of the song, functions as a foundation for an abstract narrative and a game of transformations divided into two parts. In the first section of the work, George Michael is replaced by the artist staring at a pulsating blank projection which provides the only lighting source, mirroring the conventions and modus operandi of the promo. In the second section a transition is played out on the reflection of the artist’s sunglasses, whereby the blank screen/Aretha is transformed into a found animated gif of a walking skeleton. The skeleton, an image at once ridiculous and bathetic, is confined to an unending loop, never reaching a final destination until the light of the projection fails, rendering the viewer and the artist in darkness. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Father Told Me I’m Ugly (2006) – The camera intrudes on the artist in the restroom as he holds a video game where the animated character criticizes the artist for his unsightly body however this is also a cathartic process from a comment that the artist’s father had made about him in the past. Using a seemingly childish animated figure, the work is a reflection of the conditions of childhood and the resulting effects on self-image. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Fame Fame Fatal Fame” is a concise commentary on the ludicrousness of stardom and its soulless yet frequently comical transformation into a commodity. More specifically, Delilabros is using pop star interviews combined into a separate statement/interview of a fictitious figure. Visually the elements he is using are cliché symbols of stardom glamour and vanity. A faceless mirrorhead, he reflects particles of stardust that exist in his surrealist reverie universe. The combination of the visuals and the voiceover are questioning the value of those phrases which vary from profound configurations to pseudo philosophical statements. This video is a part of an installation that includes original music written by the artist in his attempt to become a pop star from his own bedroom imitating several different music styles. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Rose” - No one could argue that a bleeding rose is a clichéd image, loaded with references of emotional pain. “Rose” is an altered found internet animation that decorates web pages heavy with pathos. The artist in this instance is interested in how this image can be transformed from unintended mockery to ambiguous metaphor to serious commentary just by its extrication from its original environment to the gallery space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
