Check 1974

Curator: We're looking at Lynn Hershman's artwork "Check," currently held at the Tate Modern. Editor: It strikes me as stark, almost clinical. The cool precision of the printed check contrasted with the almost frantic scrawl of the signature, "Roberta Breitmore." What's the story behind this seemingly mundane object? Curator: It's far from mundane! This check is linked to Hershman's fictional persona, Roberta Breitmore. The artist created an elaborate identity for her, complete with a biography, physical appearance, and even legal documentation. Editor: So, this check isn't just a document; it's a prop in a long performance about identity, reality, and the self. It's eerie to think how a blank check, so ordinary, gains such weight when tied to a fabricated existence. Curator: Exactly. The piece questions the very notion of authenticity. By creating Roberta, Hershman explored the societal constructs of identity and its commodification. The work plays with the idea that a signed document is not proof of identity but its performance. Editor: It's a potent reminder of the fluidity of identity. Hershman's use of everyday objects—a check, in this instance—reveals how easily we accept the symbols of identity without questioning their validity. Curator: Indeed. It's a powerful visual argument, unsettling and prescient, that resonates even more profoundly today. Editor: Looking at it now, it feels less like a simple financial instrument and more like a ghost of a person who never fully existed, yet somehow haunts the frame.