Stop the War, Vote Obama, “Change America”
or
“Change America” Before the Art Gets Too Obvious

by Aeppel; LVR

Once again I’m at the Bergamot Station where a Pop-Art coup d’état is flashing yellow and pink bombs of radiation to the imagination. “Change America,” at the Berman Gallery, glowed with some of Andy WAR-Hol’s fabulously painted Mao’s and Nixons; accompanied by a new hand’s Mr. President George W. Bush in pinks and yellows as is only appropriate to commemorate a president who will be remembered for his clown -like charisma. Berman himself called this show an “Obama Lovefest,” but Obama couldn’t make it to the show, a pity! Because if he would have entered, he would have been hit by a hazard zone of radiating satire mingled with fallout of anger in neon that would have changed his sperm forever.

He would have first been saluted by a brigade of psychedelic clowns in army suits, ready to greet their coming savior who will hopefully free them from their big red boots, bloody from the ground, and their red noses, irritated from sobs. Walking through to shake some hands, there’s a sculpture of a kid with dynamite tied around his waist, white-skinned and light eyed; I’ve never met a terrorist from America before, no-Sir-y! This was strange and it gets stranger! As I walked off to see some more, my foot sunk into a pile of match boxes that rested in a pile, American flag on their cardboard face. The cancer initiating, forest fire starting, bong blazing, pipe bomb lighting, flag bearing little babies seemed strangely nice and calm in a quiet little pile like that.

I was looking around for an answer, since I’m sure this type of littering is illegal in at least 49 states, but instead I found a list of rights that assured me that “1. The American flag is not an object of worship” (art by Richard Serra). And surely, the flags that were hung up high were not to be revered! A razor blade red white and blue, a flag made up of pornographic images, flags that should only be saluted in private, depressed and lonely soldiers! The bill of artists rights also listed “7. Support indecent and uncivil art!” A strange little world indeed, where “women with big teeth” and “men with no lips” (art by Robbie Conor) smile in unison while translucent bombs fall on beautiful women. And during this time of apparent crisis, movie posters are hung up of upcoming films entitled: “The War Addiction of the Bourgeoisie” by Gomez Bueno and “Nightmare Administration.” But I am not so interested in these violence ridden political films at all, so luckily Mickey Mouse and Bart Simpson arrived to their corresponding art pieces, Simpson in the heart of war, and Mickey on the face of George Washington (Lyn Foulkes), our first president, image on our dollar bill, beloved mascot of our nation.

And as I continued through this colorful demonstration, I received a bit of solace when I stopped to see the large image of an American family enjoying apples picked right from the tree, with one of those well-trusted statistics assuring us that “There are still families in the US that consist of a father who works, a mother who stays home, and 2 children!” which would have been nice if not for the asterisk that reminded us that only “*2%” existed. Walk a little further and there’s a mirror staring at you from above your head with huge letters that read “Democracy is hypocrisy.” After you fix your hair and check if your makeup is right, notice that you are part of democracy and that the mirror is assuring you that you are a hypocrite, perhaps reminding us to look at a mirror next time we enter a little voting booth to remove the makeup of ignorance and presumptuousness that we have elaborated in order to fit a conformist mold.

It is a crazy world in the Berman Gallery that has exploded (or unexploded, like Dorenfeld’s Whitehouse piece) with many talented weapons designers with a mission to show people their own craniums. However, there is an air of overt-politeness that is of an ideal subdued by satire. Do not be fooled, though, despite the friendly faces and bright esthetics, there is much to reflect upon. Sadly, there is nothing new under the sun and there is a certain collective lack of new ideas and revelatory facts. This, of course, is merely a reflection of a large problem which promises that history will repeat itself. From Japan to Vietnam to Iraq, we are experiencing a cycle of military incomprehensibility that is leaving everyone with a question mark, a sarcastic guffaw, and a hand on the remote control switching to see what else is on. This repetitive, subdued, reemerging historical narrative is also evident in our political art, resurrecting Warhol from a time when war demonstrations were sprayed in water and gas, but are now translated to electronic blogs and posters which are only quieted by the “boo’s” of conservative media. I can only hope that if this art-show accomplishes its mission anytime soon, then we should have a new batch of art, rising like bread (not like mushroom clouds) to provide the masses with a new and filling solution.

Bergamot Station, Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica CA ::: Oct 4 - Nov 4 2008

Aeppel; LVR is an emerging writer and poet from Santa Monica, CA. She is an editor for the growing Ministry of Obscure Knowledge website and a self-published spoken word poet. Her "words (are) marked by a youthful spirituality of sci-fi antiquity."