David (2004)
Sam Taylor-Johnson (Sam Taylor-Wood) (b.1967)
David (2004)
Digital video displayed on plasma screen (107 min)
935 mm x 720 mm
National Portrait Gallery
Some works of art date very badly while others mature like a fine wine. David, Sam Taylor-Johnson’s 107 minute video portrait of a then 29 year-old David Beckham sleeping, is neither. I don’t think it’s particularly beautiful, there’s nothing special about the composition, it’s not an engaging watch and I don’t even have a man-crush on Beckham. So why do I like it? Because my opinion of the work has fundamentally changed for the better since it’s debut 21 years ago. Let me explain why.
My initial impression wasn’t much different than the dismissive reviews at the time. It was frequently cited as reductive (Warhol did it first) and cannon fodder for witty copywriters (the Guardian critic called it moronic). The timing was also questionable, coinciding with Beckham’s slide into a category every professional athlete dreads, the inevitable decline of physical prowess and sporting career, while also suffering a tabloid scandal about an extramarital affair. Was this highly publicised video portrait really art, or just stealth PR?
Thanks to his early sporting achievements and commercial endorsements Beckham’s status as a globally recognised celebrity had been cemented long before Taylor-Johnson conceptualised the work. Beckham’s stature since then has grown exponentially but what wasn’t clear at the time was that his 2003 departure from the English Premiership was not the beginning of his end, but merely a speed bump on a lifelong upward trajectory currently hovering in Elder Statesman phase. I am constantly amazed at the humility and grace he shows while dutifully appearing as a representative of Britain. Most notably his prominent roles in the opening and closing ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics, or that he queued for 13 hours to pay his respects to Her Majesty. It’s no coincidence that the National Portrait Gallery placed his video portrait on the same wall as Queen Elizabeth II.
David Beckham, Amy Winehouse and Queen Elizabeth II
There’s an interesting correlation between the length of someone’s fame and interest in their early years. No one gets wistful looking at childhood photos of one-hit wonders but when someone’s public recognition reaches a saturated point of familiarity, to the point that you couldn’t fail to notice them if they were walking down the street, then their youth takes on a more revered state. Watching David now, and seeing how young he looks with skin that was actually visible before he completely covered his arms and upper torso in tattoos, is a bit like looking at your old school photo. Except you probably weren’t a teenage supermodel and Beckham has never not been pretty. Now he’s 50. He’s stayed in shape and is rocking grey hairs and wrinkles better than almost any man his age, but it’s the clean cut specimen in the 2004 video that set the world’s heart aflutter. (Hmmm… maybe I do have a man-crush?)
If you strip away all that nostalgia it’s hard not to view the video portrait as ironically stalker-esque. Beckham has long been a tabloid fascination and frequently subjected to invasive paparazzi. The National Portrait Gallery describes David as a “reverential and painterly film” but the tightly cropped composition is reminiscent of super telephoto lens imagery taken by someone balancing atop a stepladder outside the hedges of his home.
Everyone involved in the artwork was a voluntary participant, but that doesn’t diminish the unsettling intimacy required to capture a celebrity at his most vulnerable, when he was naked and unconscious. Despite many public statements that claim otherwise I’m not convinced Beckham was actually asleep but let’s give Beckham and Taylor-Johnson the benefit of the doubt and say that he was. That just makes this video even weirder. I mean… who intently watches somebody sleep? I can’t even watch the video in the gallery for more than a few minutes because it’s simply too uncomfortable and awkward to do so. I keep expecting him to open one eye and ask me what the f*** I’m looking at.
Twenty years ago I thought this was a cheap gimmick. But remember, it was made three years prior to the introduction of the iPhone, a device that springboarded the world, and celebrities specifically, into a 24/7 living nightmare of having to, or at least be seen to, expose every aspect of their lives on camera. So how could I appreciate it then? It was a novelty, an outlier, a unique and unfamiliar way to view celebrity and ultimately just one more unwanted image of a handsome man we had already seen too much of. But now? Now I view it as a complex and prescient statement about youth, aging, voyeurism and a hungry public desire to break through the manufactured veneers that celebrities present to the world.
Viewing this relic from Beckham’s pre-smartphone youth is a quaint and nostalgic experience, but only because his presence has continued to remain firmly in the public eye as he has grown and matured into a British icon and social media star (88 million Instagram followers). Modern technology means there’s nothing to stop his wife from live-streaming him sleeping tonight, but I’d rather see a young man dreaming than an old man contentedly snoring.
That’s why I like it.
Every great accomplishment starts with a youthful dream.
Additional reading:
David - National Portrait Gallery artwork page
David - Wikipedia page
Beckham at 50 (Guardian photo gallery)
Previously, on Why I Like It:
May — Maman (1991), Louise Bourgeois
Apr — Grapnel (2023), William Cobbing
Mar — Rhino Costume (1989), Gerald Scarfe