Death of a Subculture

An Installation presented at Victoria Conference Center

Death of a Subculture is a conceptual narrative about the extinction of a subculture which consists of duplicate bridge players. The game of Bridge will survive but what form the new subculture will take on is not yet known. Hence, I am archiving the essence of this subculture, by abstractly preserving the memories of a few treasured moments. As a bridge player myself, I feel the death of the subculture looming, and would like to give it the acknowledgment it deserves.

North American duplicate bridge players belong to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), which has been in existence since 1927. The current average age of the players is 70 and enrolment is at approximately 150,000 people, who almost all   learned the game in their twenties.  Not that many years ago, membership was over 250,000 and there were many younger players than now.

Since the advent of the computer, younger generations of players have turned to alternate games, leading to the decline in ACBL numbers.  Although duplicate bridge can be played online, many of the means by which bridge players socialize are not available on the Internet. Emoticons on-line are no substitute for live facial expression, body language, and tone of voice. Thus, my images are a glimpse into the culture via their appearance and behavior.

This body of work  consists of three parts in which I have used mixed media to form the installation that was presented at the Victoria Conference Center during an ACBL Regional Tournament.

Part One:

In this series, close-up photographs are taken of bridge players while playing the game, providing a glimpse into the player’s character.  The portraits are displayed in a Plexiglass box, with latch, to protect and preserve the subculture.  The four photos in the box represent the North – South partnership and the East – West opponents.  My choice of fluorescent Plexglass is intended to depict the colourful nature of bridge players in their natural environment, as accomplished bridge players tend to  be very interesting, and perhaps a bit eccentric.  Transparencies are used to intermingle and amalgamate the players’ images into one.  This depicts the personalities and lives of players that have been immersed over the years, creating a commonality that arises from and reflects the shared enviromnemt. Bridge players have created their own subculture with a set of values and standards, that place value solely on how well they play the game versus the typical material wealth, job status, and moral values.

Part Two:

The six sculptures called “Wired Partnerships” consist of transferred photographs on a canvas triangle constructed with wood that has wire running thru it. This is a play on words.  Wired partnership in bridge, means a partnership that has played together for so long that they know how each other thinks.

Part Three:

‘The Matt Smith signature Movement’ is an abstract painting representing how Matt Smith, who organized and directed games at his club in the 80’s and 90’s, set bridge table up in a very unusual manner. To this day, no one, including Matt knows why the tables weren’t in a straight line. The painting is acrylic on wood using mapping as inspiration to depict the confusion and energy, the misaligned tables created.

Bridge players have created their own subculture with a set of values, standards, and language of expression. Perhaps Online Bridge will transform the face of this culture and save it from extinction but time will write the epitaph for the cultural aspects of Duplicate Bridge, as we know it today.