“This shrine is aesthetically engaging, demanding the viewers attention and serves as a commentary on commodity and on the interchangeability of iconography, as well as the relationships between world religions and conflict.”

– www.resonantcity.net

The Age of Enlightenment – A large scale installation consisting of a colonnade displaying various themes based on religion and conflict. Each of the eight columns is primarily made using castings from commercially available molds. The juxtaposition and alteration of these molded forms create new meaning and iconography. The colonnade leads to a sarcophagus-like structure constructed with plaster molds stacked and corbelled as an ancient stone wall. Examination of the sarcophagus interior reveals the core of the molds, both sacred and vernacular images in deeply carved relief. Iterations of holy themes commingle with mermaids, leprechauns, Easter bunnies and Disney characters. The installation is reminiscent of a visit to a holy shrine.

Components of The Age of Enlightenment: 8 ceramic columns, 4 ceramic tabletop vignettes and a plaster sarcophagus:

Crusading Angels

Gun-toting putti at the base of the column take up arms to fight “the enemy.”  The angel atop the column tears apart the capital, beneath the capital a pattern of baby Jesuses are interwoven with Thanksgiving turkeys (both symbols of sacrifice.)

The Great Transformation: Santa into Moses

Horns are representative of images of Moses made during the Renaissance and Pre-renaissance.  These depictions are said to be due to misinterpretation of biblical Hebrew but could also be considered a deliberate attempt to dehumanize or demonize Jews.  The capital is flanked by two portraits of Moses, both reinterpretations of dour old world Santa portrait molds. One figure holds a pair of stone tablets, reminiscent of the Ten Commandments. Across the tablets is inscribed a more inclusive proclamation to “BE NICE,” a commandment free of religious dogma and a reminder of the importance of separation of church and state.  On the opposite side of the column is an image of Moses shielding his eyes.  This has dual meanings and can be interpreted as “see no evil” or the ritual at the twilight of the Jewish Sabbath when the candles are lit and the eyes are gently shielded.

Prayers for Peace: Conga Line Buddhas

This column is participatory.  Visitors write their hopes for the future on slips of paper and insert into the slot at the top of Ho Tai’s belly.  One wish per day is sent into the ether via Facebook.  Ho Tai, the happy Buddha-like figure, is a grantor of wishes and patron of the poor, weak and young.

Order Steeped in Chaos

Located across from the Moses column this features a traditional Islamic pattern, which is incidentally a Star of David turned on its side.  The top of the column has been damaged by conflict.

Medusa in the Garden

A melding of serpent parables from Judeo/Christian and pagan mythologies.

Multiply and Divide

The intersection of reproductive science and religion.  The capital is supported by three Caryatids, female forms clutching embryonic figures.  They are framed by a background of sperm fertilizing eggs in sculpted relief.  The egg, however, is in the shape of a chicken egg.   The base is swimming in Easter bunnies and other rabbits, playing on the metaphor of “multiplying like rabbits” and a reference to the pagan origins of the Easter bunny as symbol of fertility.

The War Prayer

Praying hands pointing heavenward at the capital for lofty or spiritual aspirations and earthward at the base reflecting earthly desires and carnal needs.

Tower of Babel

Symbolism, language and communication confuse meaning and mirror the chaos at the fall of the Tower of Babel.

4 Vignettes:

The Enlightenment

An angel divines the future with the possibility of using jet-pack wings.

Seeing is Believing

A mermaid, Leprechaun and Jesus all contained within large Christmas ornaments.  Objects are all idealized imagery of unseen icons.  A seaman harpoons the mermaid possibly signaling the death of faith.

Promises Unfulfilled

A female figure-turned-vessel pours from her heart to gathered angels who receive nothing.

Art from the Trenches

Luminarias made from a mold of a WWI mortar shell.

Sarcophagus – plaster molds stacked as an ancient stone wall (located at end of colonnade).

Full Gallery:

“We don’t have a specific method for working.  We decide the issue that we want to talk about and then we decide the media that is the best way to approach it.  So we’re constantly experimenting and usually working with media that we are not so familiar with and find that when we’re working without a net and working in unfamiliar territory, that’s when the interesting things happen.”

-  Pulled into “PEACES” from San Diego Videographers, produced and directed by Lisa Franek

For years, we have engaged in an unusual ritual by making art when dining out. It is one facet of our art that spawned our collaborative ventures.   These works capture creativity at its most playful state, resulting in surprisingly complex and impromptu sculptures borne of only the materials at hand.   Once a part of our personal and private creative moments, we recently decided to share these events by documenting them through photography, sound and video.  Each piece consists of a photograph or video documenting a work in situ, a display of select parts of the sculpture and the receipt for the meal.

These works become public art at the moment of creation, a direct response to our surroundings and materials, the character of the restaurant and the ideas that emerge and transform over the course of the meal. Since the pieces are constructed of the detritus left after a meal, they can also be seen as reflections on a disposable society.

The Candy Store at La Casa del Tunel, Tijuana, MX (L) and Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, San Francisco, CA (R).

Anything goes in “The Candy Store” (La dulcería): an installation that simultaneously attracts and repels viewers, exposes the inherent conflicts in the international healthcare industry, and the legalities and illegalities in the world of pharmaceuticals.  - http://tijuanatales.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/la-casa-del-tunel-tijuana-opens-another-excellent-show/

The added facet of a drug-smuggling tunnel transformed into a cultural venue transformed into a drug store makes the project even more significant, meaningful, timely and edgy. -Pasadena / San Gabriel Valley News Journal

The highlight of the store is a large collection of Egyptian-style canopic jars, each labeled with a drug of choice. If you purchase a canopic jar, one may rest easy knowing that the essence of the industry graces each vessel. – www.resonantcity.net

Bless you AND your Candy Store. – Jonathan Gams (Hardpress Editions)

The Candy Store acknowledges the trend toward self-diagnosis and treatment due to rising healthcare costs by providing medicinal candies and other objects with prescription pharmaceuticals incorporated into them as art media.  Many objects, for example, are ceramic works with medicines baked into the glazes.  These inconsumable medicinal talismans are a welcome addition to the panoply of healthcare choices and are guaranteed to meet or exceed FDA standards for safety or effectiveness.

In alarming numbers, those with limited access to medical care have turned to self-diagnosis and medication, often crossing the borders in search of affordable drugs.  While large segments of the population lack health insurance, the privileged are often over-medicated, using “mind focusing” drugs to enhance test scores and relying on pharmaceuticals as treatment for conditions once held as normal variations in personality and temperament.  The Candy Store is a natural extension of these trends, providing greater access to medication, through the placebo effect.

Ceramic objects with medicines baked into the glazes.

Canopic Jars
Ceramic, glaze and medication

Each jar is labeled with the medicine that is ground into the glaze.  The jar is fashioned using symbols that represent the effects of the medication.  Medication for pain and inflammation may be indicated by the addition of legs or hands protruding from the jars.   Other jars display the mind altering effects of powerful painkillers through the addition of surreal elements.  The jars are also inspired by ancient Egyptian canopic jars, used to store the stomach, intestines, heart and lungs prior to the mummification process.  The artists encourage people to create their own rituals using the jars.

Tobacco Teddy Bears

Tobacco Teddy Bears
Tobacco

The tobacco teddy bears are wry commentaries on cigarette marketing and the search for younger consumers as loyal clientele die off.   They are sold in cigar boxes, which use beautiful graphics to add desirability to tobacco products.

Candies with medicines mixed into the glazes

Medicinal Candy
Ceramic, glaze and medication

The candies are inconsumable.  Each piece of ceramic candy contains trace elements of a commercial grade medication, which has been carefully extracted and incorporated into the glaze.  The color of the glaze indicates the medications which include Amoxicillin, Vioxx, Ultram and Vicodin.  It is notable that Vioxx, one of the “active ingredients” included in this box, has been removed from the market due to a reassessment of the potential dangers posed by this drug (which sometimes resulted in death.)   The notoriety of this recall has brought into question the marriage between the regulatory arm of the US government and the pharmaceutical industry.

Medicine Bags
Animal hide, synthetic cord, rhinestones

A contemporary twist on Native American shamanic containers, made to hold individual Medicines/Candy.  May be used to create one’s own rituals to ward off illness and can be worn around the neck as a talisman.

Medical Scrubs
Cotton (size XL)

These scrubs have The Candy Store Logo and can be worn as a statement of support for the Candy Store’s message.

Medical Lab Coats
Cotton (size XL)

Each coat has a unique image on the back and reflects the pharmaceutical industry.  The front includes an embroidered logo for the Candy Store, the reverse is an image created in rhinestones.

1. Golden winged caduceus with inkjet transfer and rhinestones.
2. Two-toned Rhinestone Rx.  Marketing is EVERYTHING.
3. Caduceus with dollar sign snake.  Pharmaceuticals are big business.
4. Physician skull with halo and stethoscope.  A reminder of our mortality.

The Candy Store at Agitprop

The Candy Store
Video

The video portion of The Candy Store is a shameless marketing pitch.  It will run on The Kickstarter.com website until the end of November in an attempt to help fund the creation of this exhibition and to sell products/artworks.  The exhibition video incorporates vintage cartoons and commercials celebrating the joy of cigarette smoking and contemporary FDA recall messages.

Candy apples
Ceramic, glaze, medication, paper

The apples are a symbol of temptation. Some apples have been bitten, indicating that a customer has succumbed to enticement.

We wish to thank the following patrons for funding our Kickstarter.com campaign.  As a result of their generosity, The Candy Store exhibition travelled to Tijuana, Mexico, for a solo exhibition at La Casa del Tunel  (The House of the Tunnel.)

Isabelle Wasserman

Janice Klein

Andrea Villa

Manny Macias

Robert A. Yassin

Tessie Bersamin

Mark Kline

Susan Royce

Louise Kline

Joan Sobel

Annette Laing

Ronald Logan

John Highkin

Virginia Lukei

Jan Bell

William Scott

Hilary Sinberg

Monika Hseu

Jonathan Rossall

Debra Wilbur

Vivien Ressler

Larry and Debra Poteet

Earth Igloo for Jerusalem

Built atop the Museum on the Seam over the Passover and Easter holidays, Earth Igloo for Jerusalem reflects its surroundings, a dome in a city of domes, and is an ironic mud structure in a future sans ice. The mud is from the region of the Dead Sea, a body of water that is dropping an astounding meter per year! The Jordan River, the source of the Dead Sea’s fresh water, has slowed to a trickle as it is siphoned off to provide drinking water for Israel, Jordan and The Palestinian Authority. While many believe that the next wars will be fought over water, Jordan and Israel are now meeting to solve their joint water issues associated with the Dead Sea.

This project uses mud brick building techniques, one of the earliest visible signs of human exploitation and manipulation of the environment, to address human impact. The process is an ancient one, using natural clays and sand combined with straw for tensile strength. The molds used to form the bricks are somewhat more contemporary, using plaster forms to create likenesses of 1970s model gas-guzzling vans. These vehicles, once symbols of freedom and American affluence, are now icons of waste. Using their likeness in this context mirrors the inevitable return of obsolete technology to the earth.

Earth Igloo for Jerusalem - Detail

The Museum on the Seam is housed in a former Israeli guard station which once protected the volatile border between Israel and Jordan. Its battle scars are still visible. Fortunately the only politics that we encountered were associated with the acquisition of special mud, which is protected by the government. A Hebrew University archaeologist who assisted us admitted to once being arrested while digging the clay from a hillside. However, the museum found a cob builder/park ranger with the proper permits to collect the mud necessary for the project.

A sister igloo will be made from mud near the Salton Sea in the United States. This inland sea is also in crisis due to pollution and evaporation.

“The work is a response to the plight of the sea which is quickly disappearing as water is being diverted from the Jordan River to provide drinking water for Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Mud brick architecture is one of the most ancient of architectural techniques and one of the earliest visible signs of humans exploiting and manipulating their environment.”  - The North CountyTimes

The War Ain't Over Till The Paperwork Is Done

This work consists of 100 hand-made paper tanks in pentagonal formation. The work alludes to the term “paper tiger,” a phrase used to describe an aggressive yet ineffectual military power. The vision of paper tanks in various states of decay also refers to an internal audit by the Pentagon showing a massive misappropriation of taxpayer funds coupled with a lack of proper paperwork in most cases.  A copy of the Pentagon report is installed with this work for patrons to view.

In May of 2008, the Pentagon released the findings of an audit tracking 8.2 billion dollars that the United States army paid to civilian contractors in Iraq. The audit cited the failure of the government to properly document these expenditures with clearly verifiable receipts, further stating that almost none of these payments followed federal regulations. Multimillion dollar contracts were scrawled on cocktail napkins, in some cases naming the recipient with no documentation of services received.

The following are excerpts from a New York Times article following the Pentagon’s release of its internal audit:

May 23, 2008
Iraq Spending Ignored Rules, Pentagon Says
By JAMES GLANZ

A Pentagon audit of $8.2 billion in American taxpayer money spent by the United States Army on contractors in Iraq has found that almost none of the payments followed federal rules and that in some cases, contracts worth millions of dollars were paid for despite little or no record of what, if anything, was received.

The audit also found a sometimes stunning lack of accountability in the way the United States military spent some $1.8 billion in seized or frozen Iraqi assets, which in the early phases of the conflict were often doled out in stacks or pallets of cash. The audit was released Thursday in tandem with a Congressional hearing on the payments.

In one case, according to documents displayed by Pentagon auditors at the hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, a cash payment of $320.8 million in Iraqi money was authorized on the basis of a single signature and the words “Iraqi Salary Payment” on an invoice. In another, $11.1 million of taxpayer money was paid to IAP, an American contractor, on the basis of a voucher with no indication of what was delivered.

Mary L. Ugone, the Pentagon’s deputy inspector general for auditing, told members of the committee that the absence of anything beyond a voucher meant that “we were giving or providing a payment without any basis for the payment.”

“We don’t know what we got,” Ms. Ugone said in response to questions by the committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California.

The new report is especially significant because while other federal auditors have severely criticized the way the United States has handled payments to contractors in Iraq, this is the first time that the Pentagon itself has acknowledged the mismanagement on anything resembling this scale.

The Pentagon report, titled “Internal Controls Over Payments Made in Iraq, Kuwait and Egypt,” also notes that auditors were unable to find a comprehensible set of records to explain $134.8 million in payments by the American military to its allies in the Iraq war.

The mysterious payments, whose amounts had not been publicly disclosed, included $68.2 million to the United Kingdom, $45.3 million to Poland and $21.3 million to South Korea. Despite repeated requests, Pentagon auditors said they were unable to determine why the payments were made.

When the results were compiled, they revealed a lack of accountability notable even by the shaky standards detailed in earlier examinations of contracting in Iraq. The report said that about $1.4 billion in payments lacked even minimal documentation “such as certified vouchers, proper receiving reports and invoices,” to explain what had been purchased and why.

Another $6.3 billion in payments did contain information explaining the expenditures but lacked other information required by federal regulations governing the use of taxpayer money — things like payment terms, proper identification numbers and contact information for the agents involved in the transaction. Taken together, those results meant that almost 95 percent of the payments had not been properly documented.

The New Maxwell House Haggadah

Larry grew up (as have many Jewish Americans) using the Maxwell House Passover Haggadah.    This publication was actually used to reinvent coffee as a kosher food in order to boost coffee sales at holiday time.   Joseph Jacobs, the owner of Maxwell House brand, hired an Orthodox rabbi to certify that the coffee bean was technically “more like a berry than a bean and, consequently, kosher for Passover.”  These promotional Haggadot were then given away for free at grocery stores leading up to the high holidays.  It seems an oddly incongruous combination of religious text with a marketing campaign, but it’s use of English and transliterations made this the quintessential American version of the Passover Seder.  A page of the original Haggadah circa 1964 can be seen at right.  Our version, which pushes the marketing even further, can be seen above.

A Kiddush with the new and improved fruit of the vine and a plea to switch to decaf at this point in the service.

Since the coffee bean was essentially reclassified as “more like a berry (or fruit) than a bean,” it seems a small stretch to also redefine it as a “fruit of the vine.”  Since wine in the Haggadah is referred to as “fruit of the vine,” Maxwell House coffee could be substituted for wine.  This would allow advertisements to appear within the text used during the seder as seen in The New Maxwell House Haggadah.

A few additional artistic liberties have been taken by adding coffee to the seder plate and substituting the plague of locust with a plague of coffee berry borers (see below.)

The revised Seder plate - make room for coffee!

The Ten Plagues with the coffee borer substituted for locusts.

© Debby and Larry Kline 2011

Passages: Luminarias and Tears

Luminarias for Passages
Ceramic, tea lights

Since La Casa Del Tunel was once a smuggling tunnel, the artists decided to honor the memory of those who either died trying to cross the border or made the crossing but lost contact with family in Mexico.  These luminaries are in keeping with Mexican tradition and candles may be lit in memory of loved ones.  The vans are pierced by teardrops.  The daytime photo documenting the installation shows the proximity to the border fence.  The location is especially poignant as the piece is visible at night from both the US and Mexico.

Passages - Luminarias Detail

Tears for Passages (Necklaces)
Ceramic, glass

The teardrops made from the creation of the luminaria vans may be worn in memory of those who perished in the crossing.  The centers contain melted shards of glass, once sharp and dangerous, now transformed into pools for reflection.

PEACES documents the creation and destruction of peace in 3 minutes and 32 seconds.  The accompanying video shows the artists carving a granite slab and the performance culminates in the stone’s destruction. It is a metaphor for the effort involved in peacemaking and the fragility of that peace, but we were also surprised by the explosive end of the work and the element of chance that dictated its ultimate appearance.

“When you carve something into a piece of granite it has a certain importance and it is a little sacred, not to be messed with.  You might think of a tombstone or maybe The Ten Commandments.  Those are things that you do not defile.” – Pulled into PEACES from San Diego Videographers, produced and directed by Lisa Franek

“It captures the hope and the tears, and hits you in the gut. I’ll think of it when I watch the news and read the newspaper.”   - http://susanrichardsmultiplevisionsstudio.blogspot.com/2009/09/beyond-border-over-edge.html

“This piece combines video and installation, with the element of chance dictating the appearance of the work in an explosive conclusion.”    – Beyond the Borders catalog

Toxic Cocktails is comprised of dozens of bone-like bisque ceramic angel-topped swizzle sticks assembled in the form of a human skeleton, resembling an archaeological or forensic study. Each angel has been inscribed with the name of one of twenty-two medications, selected by the artists at random, that have been recently removed from the market. Although the United States has the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to access the safety and efficacy of medications, thousands of people have died or been put at risk by many drugs that were released.

Toxic Cocktails

The medications are as follows:

In 2001, Bayer voluntarily removed Baycol from the market. The drug was intended to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease. It was found in some cases to cause a fatal form of rhabdomyolysis.

Bextra was approved for use by the FDA in 2001, and used widely to relieve pain associated with arthritis. It was later found to cause life threatening skin conditions and cardiovascular problems.

Duract is an anti-inflammatory drug used for the short-term treatment of acute pain. The FDA approved the drug in 1997, followed by reports of the drug causing liver failure in patients who used the drug for longer than 10 days.

The FDA recently issued a safety warning on the Duragesic patch, citing improper use may cause breathing difficulties and death. A manufacturing problem left some of the patches with a cut in the internal reservoir lining. Contact with a defective pain patch may deliver a dose of fentanyl which can lead to breathing problems or overdose.

In 2004, the FDA banned all substances using Ephedra. Evidence has shown that the compound is only effective for short-term weight loss but it can be responsible for an increase in blood pressure, strokes and heart disease.

Millions of prescriptions were written for the weight loss drug Fen-Phen. It was recalled after producing many serious side effects including death. American Home Products, the creators of Fen-Phen, have been accused of intentionally hiding the risks of the drug prior to the recall.

In 2000 Glaxo-Smith-Kline nearly discontinued the production of Lotromex following reports of severe stomach and intestinal disorders which often required surgery, caused discomfort and in extreme cases, death.

Palladone was pulled from the market after just 5 months. Palladone provided severe pain relief over a 24 hour period but was particularly dangerous when taken with alcohol. Alcohol disturbs Palladone’s extended relief system causing some users to overdose in order to relieve pain.

In 2007, The FDA announced that the distributers and manufacturers of Pergolide removed the drug from the market because of the potential for heart valve damage.

Pondimen is linked with primary pulmonary hypertension and heart valve damage. Heart valve damage is of a particular danger because the symptoms can go unnoticed for long periods of time. Prior to the recall of Pondimen testing showed 30 percent of users showed some form of heart valve damage.

In 2000, the FDA recalled Propsulid, a drug designed to treat severe heartburn. While effective against heartburn it was linked with 80 deaths and hundreds of cases of irregular heart rhythms.

Raxar was given FDA approval in August 1997 and recalled two months later. Raxar was intended to treat infections ranging from pneumonia to sexually transmitted diseases. It was quickly linked to serious side effects including death.

Redux was designed to combat obesity but was later linked to serious heart conditions. It was commonly used in a combination with other drugs to form dexfen-phen. On their own, the drugs were considered safe, but no tests were run to examine the effects of combining the drugs.

Rezulin was shown to be associated with liver disease. With two other type 2 diabetes medications available, the FDA asked that Rezulin be taken off of the market.

Seldane, an allergy medicine, was linked with irregular heart beats and proven potentially fatal when mixed with other medications.

After three patients developed serious side effects, Tysabri was removed from the open market, a controversial decision as many multiple sclerosis sufferers are hoping for its return.

In 2005 the FDA issued a request to the manufacturer of Vioxx, asking that they recall the drug due to evidence that it was responsible for an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Data revealed a significant increase in potentially fatal heart incidents among users of Zelnorm/Zelmac. The FDA asked Novartis to suspend marketing and sales of Zelnorm while it reevaluates the drug’s risk/benefit profile.

In 2008 Digitek tablets were recalled after being found to contain twice the approved level of digoxin. The double-strength pills posed a risk of digitalis toxicity, nausea, vomiting, low blood pressure, cardiac instability and death.

In 2009, the FDA warned dieters and body builders to immediately stop using Hydroxycut, a widely sold supplement linked to cases of serious liver damage. The warning was delayed because the FDA has no authority to review supplements before they’re marketed.

In 1998, Roche announced Posicor’s withdrawal. Before it was removed from the market, Posicor caused multiple injuries and may be responsible for as many as 143 deaths. Posicor effectively reduced hypertension but was found to produce dangerously low heart rates when combined with over 25 different drugs.

Baxter Healthcare Corp., has been accused of deliberately substituting ingredients in its anti-coagulant Heparin with a dangerous counterfeit to maximize profits. The tainted Heparin was distributed to the U.S., where hundreds of allergic reactions occurred causing more that 80 deaths and hundreds of illnesses before the drug was recalled.

Toxic Cocktails installation at Agitprop