Wearing a bright “Works of Art” badge and flanked by an image of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” with his own face in it, Chris Cook tells us exactly what his performance will be from the moment the audience enter the space; funny, a little whimsical, some relation to art, sure. And yet what comes is something I certainly wasn’t prepared for when I decided to see what I thought was just a magic show; a beautiful, colourful picture unfolding slowly throughout as Cook explores the story of the infamous art forger Van Meegeren; a lesson in art history, the place of activism and resistance in art, the responsibility individuals hold as creators, the validity of forgery in the art world and out, and so on.
Cook’s relationship with his audience is remarkable. Audience participation, which Fake is full to the brim with, has become within Fringe culture a joke about how little audiences want to be involved, with jokes peppered in about empty front rows and deliberate lack of eye contact. Cook, like everything else, makes a joke out of this, striding to the back of the room to select a person for the final, reelingly impressive, card trick. Under these comedic interjections about what audiences expect from shows, there is a deeper sense of attempting to put forward a genuine message. This is the stand-out part of the show to me; its unabashed earnestness.
The foundation of the show may lie in cynicism – cynicism of everything to the assumed perception of the audience to way the art world is governed. Cook takes this cynicism and utilises it to ask a series of thought-provoking questions subtly imposed through his card tricks and stand up; who defines what does and doesn’t count as art, and where does the line lie between? Does the performance of what is considered as art count? Who makes this decision in the first place?
Endless praise could be sung about Chris Cook’s performance, from its smooth pacing to the constant surprises. Coming out of the tail end of the festival, it is a true joy to watch a show that is funny and smart and self-aware as Fake undeniably is, but takes this one step further – it aims to be truly, genuinely hopeful. Cook claims that he has never been quite sure whether to label himself with as an artist, and though I’d be inclined to claim he is, coming out of the show makes this appear almost irrelevant. The final message he leaves us with is that every person is just a story, and it’s up to you what kind of story you wish to tell.
Image provided by Fake for press use.
