What’s involved with “doing business”? The corporate world has long advocated the power of the strong handshake — whether for a meeting or interview, it’s what sets that much vied for first impression right. And, as expected, business handshake etiquette has reams of “For Dummies” ABCs dictating in slow-mo, scroll upon scroll length of the finer points involved — in sum, web to web, firm grip, direct eye contact with a smile, and a handshake that’s max two to three pumps. As stock imagery attests, this ritual in ad nauseam dosage can seem slightly robotic and mechanical.
This is why I like Tough Guy Mountain’s “Doing Business” — it’s like an absurd outtake from a Wikihow GIF of awkward handshake mishaps. The naked male mannequins rise into a “power up” robot pose, and march towards each other in near collision, yet their fingertips barely grazing. The lonely fern and building model in the background suggests a condo development showroom, where plans are likely abound to raze a block of artist studios for gentrified living and work complexes.
(I’m probably reading too much into the latter, but given that Tough Guy Mountain is a collective that plays with corporate aesthetics via General Idea-esque performance art tactics — often satirizing the business world’s own awkward forays into “supporting” or “branding” the arts — it’s probably not too off the mark.)
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