Friday, October 27, 2006

Andrew Krasnow exhibit

A perfectly articulated American flag made from human skin. On the surface so ordinary acting as a signpost.. Some impressions for those reluctant to go in and step past the threshold.
 
Stepping under a large red, white & blue flag the ten commandments appear. One layer obscuring the other only to be revealed by the ducking of one's head and then, once inside the closeted space, the words "thou shalt" slowly make themselves known and though the text itself is indecipherable, somehow the hand of god slowly works into the mind's eye, holding the last commandment as if it were a lightning bolt, its wrist arched as if it were being thrown down. Approaching a jury, (or is it a witness box?) we see a skullcap and a prayer mat, (is it a kufti?) situated before us as a bible slowly casts a shadow -- suggesting  the sun were rising and setting over the course of a day.  Are we to kneel and pray? Or is this a vision of someone else's spiritual moment, a time of contemplation for them, a moment to dread for us? Or is this a place for us to meditate and examine what it means to be an American, hidden deep within our skin. Is this a warning, that we must examine our past and acknowledge it, or is it the logical, seemingly inevitable culmination of our history?  If it is a serial killer's lair whose is it? His? Theirs? Ours? Mine?  All this skin, what does it all mean? Inside out, outside in? To quote our president "this isn't easy work."
 
Peace and Freedom,
 
William Cardoza, ADM PROJECT.

2 Comments:

Blogger raven said...

dawn of the dead
sex
denial
fear of the unkown
detachment

these are some of the things that pop into my head when i think of this show. i say sex because andrew encourages us to put the skullcap on. the only other time youre that intimate with skin for that period of time is when youre in a serious romantic/sexual engagement.
so the idea of being that close to a dead strangers skin is repulsive. but why? in our culture we're not used to being around the deceased. theyre buried and almost forgotten. out of sight out of mind. i'm not sure what the alternative would be tho. to see a person whos no longer alive would be a harsh reminder everyday. maybe thats what we need in this life. to constantly be reminded we're here temporarily and our end is spontaneous. since we're not concious of this on a daily basis we take it for granted. a form of denial. we then create a fear of the unkown and a detachment from it.

3:32 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

that show was the coolest thing i've ever been to. post more updates n shit-- the world needs more skin art!

1:57 PM

 

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