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Good Teeth

Funded by the Glasgow Sculpture Studios (£7,000) and developed in collaboration with the artist Graham Ramsay, ‘Good Teeth’ critically investigates the pathologies of contemporary culture.

‘Good Teeth’ is also an experiment in the interpretation of these issues. A huge, gilded, vintage robot sits before a neon sign spelling out the words ‘Good Teeth’ whilst also nursing an erection. Silence, coupled with the cold glow of the sign and the reflected light from the imposing body creates an immersive space. Interjecting between the priapic robot and the sign, the viewer creates a potentially creative glitch in a loop of arousal, repetition and indifference.

Carried out by Beagles, the critical study underpinning ‘Good Teeth’ built on Bauman’s concept of the blasé disposition (‘Consuming Life’), cybernetic theories of the feedback (Wiener 1956) and Mark Fisher’s ideas of ‘reflexive impotence’ (later published in ‘Capitalist Realism’, 2009). This critical study led to two texts related to ‘Good Teeth’: ‘Blasé Zombie 2009’ (catalogue essay for Warehouse of Horrors Swg3, Glasgow 2009) and ‘In a Class of their own’ 2010 (Variant magazine).

The development of this installation that interpreted this critical study took one year, in which Beagles and Ramsay experimented with multiple potential motifs in order to ‘ventriloquise’ what they perceived to be pathologies of contemporary culture. The robot’s final form drew upon popular cultural reference points (early 1950’s Japanese toy robots), film references (Forbidden Planet and Demon Seed) and Classical art. They were also able to experiment with the positional relationship between robot, screen and viewer to maximize the effect of the ‘ghost in the machine’.

‘Good Teeth’ opened to the public at the Glasgow Sculpture Studios on October 30th 2008, which coincided with, and publicised the reopening of the Glasgow Sculpture Studios in their then new premises.