Telling lies: the interviews of David Bowie

Critical interpretations of David Bowie as the ever-changing 'chameleon of rock' and 'the faker' are nothing new. Such interpretations usually use a liberal sprinkling of quotes from his countless media interviews. Yet the self-contradiction, half-truths, fabrications, and lies to be found in these interviews have their own corresponding story to tell. The subject of this essay is David Bowie in interview. Ranging from mid-1960s interviews to the most recent interviews, Bowie's comments and pronouncements do not elucidate the artist or his work in any satisfying manner. However, what they do is provide a fascinating perspective on Bowie's life and art. If we interpret Bowie's media interviews as a narrative-of-self as well as a form of artist's statement, what they continually reveal is that, to use Paul Ricoeur's concept, 'narrative-identity' is a slippery process that involves both an affirmation of a definite self and a total rejection of that self. They also reveal that this 'self' - together with others' is both the interpreter and the interpreted. In this sense, Bowie's stardom (his fame) is continually under revision by both Bowie himself and those who attempt to interpret it. 'Bowie' becomes a collaborative project with no real beginning and no real end; not even in death. The celebrity interview is an important (yet often overlooked) stage for mediation.