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Hijacking not Coopting!

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I thought it might be interesting to hijack Andersen’s version of The Emperor’s New Clothes in turn and tell a little story of my own about Toronto artist Anitra Hamilton. I doubt Hamilton would share my sympathy for the boy—she certainly wouldn’t feel sorry for him. But I think it’s safe to say that his actions would definitely appeal, on the surface at least, to her own defiant sensibilities.


The story seems designed precisely for her delectation, given that it revels in the same sort of perverse amusement that this artist gets from “outing” the truth or outfitting a lie. In one-way or another, she does both in her work. However, Hamilton is definitely not innocent. In fact, her work thrives on the corruptibility of others, like the two dupes who fashion the clothes that “expose” the King by weaving the very fabric from which the invisible clothes are ultimately made. See, the boy may have been the one to call out the King’s nudity, but the so-called “weavers” set the whole damn catastrophe in motion. They took advantage of a situation made possible by the King’s vanity and his subjects’ insecurities.

 

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  1. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing Emelie Chhangur

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