Inaugural Speech
Andrea Fraser
Inaugural Speech, 1997
Video, color, sound, 25 min Director, performer, script: Andrea Fraser Produced by: Andrea Fraser, inSITE 97
GF0002198.00.0-2001
Artwork text
Inaugural Speech documents Fraser’s live performance at the opening of the exhibition “inSITE97” in San Diego/Tijuana. Following official speakers reading letters from U.S. and Mexican Presidents Clinton and Zedillo, Fraser takes the podium to deliver five speeches rolled into one. Addressing the audience first as an artist then as an exhibition organizer then as a trustee then as a public official and finally as a corporate sponsor, Inaugural Speech looks at the pyramid of power for which artists and art audiences form the base of support. Introducing herself with each “speech” and then thanking herself for the generous introduction, Fraser implodes the rituals of mutual recognition and legitimating that cement the bonds between different interests in contemporary international art exhibitions. (Andrea Fraser)