Meat Couch

It was a simple challenge: step one- lie to the public, step two- wait to be challenged; little did I know I would commit hours to reupholstering a couch as well. “Oh yes I hand dyed all of the fabric with fresh meat”. An elaborate story was told about being elbow deep in a blood soaked bathtub, scrunching and sloshing cloth around to get the right grungy look. Despite the uncanny pink color and lack of odor no one took me for a liar.

            It was because as the artist in the gallery I had the upper hand- the control. No one wanted to question my methods for fear of insulting me, going against their friends or looking uneducated. It is not the norm to question art right? It is made by “gifted individuals” to be admired by envious crowds. “I wish I had some sort of artistic talent.” I hear far too often when really the question should be “Why haven’t I though about it like this before?”

This was only a college campus gallery setting among peers. Imagine the power this monolithic idea has when backed by billions of dollars in advertising and image building. It is this unwillingness to question. The Milgram Experiment (1963) presents only an assumption of authority- no real consequence existed for participants.

Recently a discussion came about where I was challenged: that this obedience is fading fast and that people are quickly waking up. I argued that no, we like to think we are waking up- it makes us feel better, and secondly, no, look at the meat couch. A simple question: What is this material? If an audience is not willing to question an unassuming peer about a detail so trivial- why should they question the patterns that they have been living out for generations?