“David Bayus’s Exploration of Gender through AI-Enhanced Burlesque”
**David Bayus Explores Gender Stereotypes in “Performance Anxiety” at Telematic**
**SAN FRANCISCO** — In a world filled with rapidly evolving technological media, David Bayus blends them with thoughtful critiques of societal norms in his latest exhibition at Telematic. Titled *”Performance Anxiety,”* the exhibit is an inventive exploration of the intersection of art, technology, and gender dynamics. Through a combination of painting, sculpture, and video, Bayus deftly manipulates the conventions of pop culture and Hollywood motifs, particularly focusing on gender stereotypes that traditionally undermine or marginalize female characters.
**A Video-Driven Centrepiece**
At the heart of Bayus’s exhibition is a striking 10-minute video, also titled *”Performance Anxiety”*. This visual work offers a playful yet dark reimagining of well-known media genres, effectively distilling the mood of Art Deco, noir, and fantasy through the contemporaneity of video games, manga, and CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery). Drawing viewers into a semi-fantastical space overlaid with both nostalgia and modernity, the video features figures reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, or the absurdist *Ubu Roi*, their exaggerated cartoonish faces providing wide-ranging emotions that verge on caricature.
These characters are juxtaposed with exoskeletal bodies, making direct references to darker sci-fi pop culture moments — think *H.R. Giger* meets *Robocop*. In this reversed gender-narrative, it is a female protagonist who ultimately saves both herself and a male figure whose anxiety over domestic tasks paralyzes him. Through hyperbolic facial expressions and digitally-driven animations, Bayus challenges the viewer’s preconceived notions of heroism and emotional engagement, intentionally blurring the boundaries between performance and caricature.
Beneath this humorous exterior, however, are layers of deeper exposition on societal roles and expectations. The animated visuals are unsettling yet familiar and paired with an ominous ambient soundtrack that subtly infuses dread into the light-hearted visuals. As a result, *Performance Anxiety* does not shy away from its thematic purpose, setting forth a conversation about how conventional gender norms, even in playful subversion, shape the way we interact with media.
**Sculpture That Speaks: “Participation Trophy”**
Further augmenting the emotional gravity of the exhibition are the other objects in the room. Positioned alongside the video screen is *”Participation Trophy #1″* (2023), a 3D-printed sculpture depicting a cartoonish humanoid figure cheerfully holding its own decapitated head. Rendered with the same aesthetic humor as the video, the figure appears frozen in a dance-like contortion, perhaps a callback to outdated moments from animated Disney classics. But much like the video, the soft lighting and muted background lend the piece an unnerving, almost tragic quality, as if both humor and horror are perpetually caught in a cycle of emotional contradiction.
This juxtaposition is echoed in *”Division of Labor”* (2024), a Dali-esque painting on the opposite side of the gallery. Here, Bayus further explores themes of identity and labor. A biomorphic figure in the process of melding with a machine feels particularly potent in our current digital age — a telling visual metaphor of how men and women, and their traditional societal roles, continue to be tangled into mechanistic binaries that don’t fully represent their complexities. With its melting contours and shadow-filled tones, the painting suggests that the work of identity-building is continuous and transforming, never settled.
**AI’s Take on Gender Dynamics**
Yet for all the artistic flair and clear intent behind Bayus’s pieces, the deeper social commentary engages with a notable limitation inherent to the tools used. The curated use of AI (artificial intelligence) in much of the exhibition leads to an interesting question: Can AI, which is largely built on data that perpetuates existing biases, emerge as a force in truly challenging the gender templates its algorithms were built upon?
Bayus’s video successfully subverts traditional gender roles — men and women swap tasks, with the stereotypical “damsel-in-distress” trope reversed. However, such swaps still operate within a heteronormative frame, potentially highlighting some of the blind spots baked into the AI-driven creations. Instead of transcending categories, there is a simple inversion: domestic work is coded “feminine,” while physical labor or fighting is coded “masculine.” While Bayus’s pieces sidestep overt categorizations, they do not completely escape the orbit of these default logics.
As a result, the exhibition is both a reflection and critique of the ongoing difficulty in dismantling entrenched societal norms, even when those norms are confronted from a new angle. Perhaps this is Bayus’s point: Old paradigms are difficult to shed, even when AI and modern media can offer new modes of representation.
**A Poignant, If Limited, Commentary**
Ultimately,