The world's changing. We're getting so concerned with the descriptions and symbols that represent ideas, we're losing all contact with the substance.
On a tape I bought at a yard sale, I heard the narrator say, "People are conditioned to believe the printed word." Feeling absoultely ridiculous one day, I decided to see just how far I could take that. So, I went to a photocopy shop and made these "cards." Then, I deployed them in real-life situations and gave them out to friends to try:
You know I really thought that people would laugh and not let me get anywhere with them.
But success came really quickly. The first time I used "Official Pass," I was able to take a shortcut through a building. I first followed a man through the normally locked door. He said, "You can't come in through here," and I pulled out my "pass." When he chuckled a little bit, I said, "It's signed!" (And it was.) He let me and my friend get through.
My next big success came with the "50 Cents Off" card. I used it when I bought a $78 bike lock. I simply placed it down on the counter with my money like a coupon. The clerk got a bit spooked. He twitchd, did a triple take, stared at it in disbelief and then said, "You're creeping me out." I figured the gig was up, but he seemed....compelled. He said, "But, I'm gonna do something for you. I'm gonna give you ten percent off." And he did. So, I really got $7.80 off.
What was it that compelled him? Exactly how is my "device" working? Is he just reacting to the originality? Did he start to see the breakdown between words and what they represent? Was he paying me for this lesson?
Of course, there's the story of the artist who paints replicas of U.S. currency to prove some of the same point. A beloved story to me :) But I wanted to take this in a slightly different direction. I wanted to comment on some of the way words change our behavior, especially in the current U.S. political environment- words are changing changing what we do, in some cases without even seeing them on paper! So I made the "Special Powers" card that doesn't even specify what special powers are. Won't someone try it out for me and see what happens?
I started to get obsessed with how abstract and far-reaching I could make the words on the card...could they really overcome physical limitations? (like some gurus claim) I handed this (above) card out to a number of friends. So far, no one has told me they could fly after recieving it...But, would they? Wouldn't you keep it a secret?
And why do these cards make everyone smile? Is there something in us that really wants to believe the dream, even for a second? Does the potency of the words on the paper create desireable images in the mind? How about the absolutely minimal rendering of a bird to represent flight? How does it connect the worlds of official-surface and symbolic representation? Do we have to see the "office' in order to believe there's an office?
I made the "Add To Your Family Card," after I realized most of the previous ones were rather masculine. They were mostly about disrupting power structures. I wanted something to share with my officemate Gemma. I figured a more feminine idea would be to enable us to comment on our relationships. This is what governments do when they create the paperwork for adoption. Again, it's about whether or not paperwork can overcome the physical connections the sex and blood created. And if not, do we just like the daydream?
A little further in the "far-reaching" direction...
Trying to restore some balance to the noise most of these create. BTW, notice the non-rectangular shape of this one. I really wanted to see how unofficial-looking I could make these and still achieve the effect. The only concession I made is that they would be machine-reproduced and on cardstock instead of flimsy paper. I think that might be all that's necessary to achieve official status.
Another powermad one. Notice the ludicrous experiation date :)
Just how absurd can we make this?!
Ninja-style...
Another feminine/recovery one. Still pushing the point of official legitimization of human needs for comfort (see psychology vs. religious freedom etc.)
poof! Now, you can play it for "real"!
Slowly replacing the government.
After offering a bunch of these to my friend Oliver I got the response that he didn't really want to exercise power over anything. Even the soothing, etc. were objectionable to him. He's doing some art exploring Heimat Culture right now, so maybe he's a little careful because of that. Anyway, I ended up giving him the "Ends." card, which simply