Tino Sehgal's 'This Situation' and the Politics of Duplicity

Marcela Iacub, a jurist and CNRS research director, provides a critical analysis of Tino Sehgal's performance "This Situation," acquired by the Centre Pompidou in a controversial purchase. The work, presented at Galerie Marian Goodman in Paris in February 2009 and later at the 2011 Avignon Festival, involves actors or intellectuals performing scripted conversations and movements. Iacub reveals that the performers were not professional actors but left-leaning intellectuals and academics, recruited for their ignorance of contemporary art to ensure authenticity. They were paid minimum wage, forced to memorize nonsensical quotes, and subjected to degrading conditions—no breaks, restricted movement, and constant surveillance. The artist claimed co-creation but asserted sole authorship, reprimanding those who showed too much knowledge or humor. One performer quit after three weeks, describing a descent from human to object to animal. Iacub argues that the work's true meaning lies not in its public presentation but in its production and circulation, exposing how even enlightened elites can be duped and subjugated. The purchase by the Centre Pompidou, for which only oral instructions were given, sparked a scandal, with critics calling it a waste of public funds. Iacub contends that the work is a lesson in political condition: being duped is not an accident but a fundamental political state.