Tiger Strikes Asteroid Los Angeles is thrilled to present the premiere of Stephanie Deumer’s
most recent video installation A Diamond is Forever, completed in 2023. Through a carefully
calibrated and seamless montage of sourced videos culled from commercials, films, TV
shows and other video sources, Deumer takes the viewer on a hypnotic journey that raises
complex questions about the relationship of women and diamonds, among other topics. From
a critical and theoretical perspective no stone is left unturned, and Deumer deftly manages to
explore a wide range of issues subtly yet powerfully. The clips evoke an emotional
rollercoaster of wonder, disgust, heartbreak, grief, laughter and hope. In the end, the sum of
the parts is much greater than the whole, or in this case the isolated video fragments, and
the work parses through the many complex and nuanced ways that women and marginalized
communities have suffered in the name of diamonds, as well as the complex process of
objectification and attendant subjugation.
In the artist’s own words: “A Diamond Is Forever explores the fractured and multitudinous
enigma of ‘woman’ created by the diamond industry and mass media. Consisting entirely of
found footage, including but not limited to commercials, films, and TV shows, the work
condenses representations of the extraction, production, circulation, and marketing of
precious stones. Diamonds figure literally in the work as well as figuratively, revealing how
concepts of nature, commodity, colonialism, and patriarchy are used to both validate and
scrutinize women in relation to diamonds.”
This work was generously supported in part by Prospect Art’s New Work: Focus on LA grant
and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant.
