In this new series Game Theory: Global Gamesmanship, Lake continues her commitment to her career-long exploration and questioning of social issues, identity politics and power dynamics. In eleven colour photographs, Lake, positioned on a broken marble chessboard, assumes the varying roles of both Queen and the Pawns. The gendered voice is the subject of the work; the chessboard is the tool or device.
Having reflected upon the carved pieces in the 12th century Lewis chess collection at the British Museum, Lake was drawn to the hand to cheek pose of the Queen. In this enigmatic pose, Lake found a plethora of readings ranging from grief, to despair, patience, disapproval and surprise. The Queen's pose on the chess stage contrasted with the power-dynamic poses of the King, Bishop, Berserker (Rook) and Knight.
In Nancy Marie Brown's book Ivory Vikings: The Mystery of the Most Famous Chessmen in the World and the Women who Made Them, Brown has written, "everyone can agree that the Lewis queens do not look pleased. Though not warrior women, they are women at war.”
Positioned as she is amongst the medieval oligarchs, Lake identifies with the Queen’s despair. The Queen bears witness to the collateral damage of power games; Lake bears witness to her despair; the game board is broken.
During the medieval period, the chess Queen’s game movements were limited to one space per turn. In essence, the Queen was a “pawn” – despite the regal position. The game was modified by the late 15th century and the Queen’s movements were adjusted to become among the most powerful to protect the King. As a feminist, Lake found the Queen’s evolution notably ironic beyond her pose.
In these new works, Lake imbues her portrait characterization with a range or “silent” but explicit emotions. This strategy was a critical aspect of her formative years (and subsequently influential) works such as ImPositions (1978) and Are You Talking to Me? (1979). Lake enacts the Queen’s emotions, but also genders and animates the pawns, which were sculpted as merely stumps in the Lewis chessmen. Lake said, “I chose to photograph myself as pawns with varying poses and expressions from pensive to distraught”.
The artist sewed a simple twelfth-century commoner’s dress with a shawl to wear, but then extended the period reference by adding contemporary sweaters that might suggest history has repeated itself over the intervening 850 years.
In this exhibition, Game Theory: Global Gamesmanship, Suzy Lake brings a gendered voice to strategies of gamesmanship. Chess strategy frequently exploits weakness, but paradoxically, chess can be played as a zero-sum game, where equal pieces are sacrificed with an opponent and the game is deliberately played for a draw. Politics and war employ both strategies. Both strategies result in collateral damage. Suzy Lake, like the Lewis Queen, mourns the collateral damage.
-Georgia Scherman