video stills:
Scott Rummler
“Politics and Tabloid Headlines and Shoes”
xeroxed collage from newspapers and magazines
xeroxed collage from newspapers and magazines
Scott Rummler "Theme: Politics and Tabloid Headlines and Shoes" - The Politics of Shoes from MobiusArtistsGroup on Vimeo.
Images are of Adlai Stevenson with a hole in his shoe, Howard Dean's famous scream, and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg in dress shoes.
Back story:
Stevenson's picture was taken showing a hole in his shoe, unusual since he was very sharp and well dressed. His team claimed it showed his common-guy pavement pounding approach. Those opposed to him may recall differently: that he lost the election because the photo made him look bad.
Howard Dean had to yell to be heard in a giant noisy room because the audio wasn't working. Journalists used a special mike to drown out the background noise making him sound like a yelling madman. Journalists acknowledged the piece was fake, but said Dean should have expected it, therefore he wasn't presidential, and replayed it endlessly.
Bloomberg is in favor of green projects. He doesn't quite fit in here with his fancy shoes. At a city pool opening he wore a white t-shirt and shorts to go swimming. Here he is in Bermuda shorts - he is criticized for going to his Bermuda mansion and being out of pocket on weekends. He is sometimes thought out of touch. His financial info company was used to create the derivative products that ruined the economy; he is the only top billionaire to get richer last year. He sent his former deputy mayor to be the new co. president and restructure the company as the housing bubble burst, so some think he knew what was going on. Used cosmetics kingpin pal to change city law allowing him to run for a third term, on grounds his expertise is key in handling the financial crisis. Owns giant news conglomerate.
Scott Rummler is a creative artist in New York City. He has shown his art work in a number of alternative spaces and currently is in a show at Gravity Arts in Norwalk, CT. He has an MFA from RIT, and works in other areas including Web design, writing, and acting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srummler/
Back story:
Stevenson's picture was taken showing a hole in his shoe, unusual since he was very sharp and well dressed. His team claimed it showed his common-guy pavement pounding approach. Those opposed to him may recall differently: that he lost the election because the photo made him look bad.
Howard Dean had to yell to be heard in a giant noisy room because the audio wasn't working. Journalists used a special mike to drown out the background noise making him sound like a yelling madman. Journalists acknowledged the piece was fake, but said Dean should have expected it, therefore he wasn't presidential, and replayed it endlessly.
Bloomberg is in favor of green projects. He doesn't quite fit in here with his fancy shoes. At a city pool opening he wore a white t-shirt and shorts to go swimming. Here he is in Bermuda shorts - he is criticized for going to his Bermuda mansion and being out of pocket on weekends. He is sometimes thought out of touch. His financial info company was used to create the derivative products that ruined the economy; he is the only top billionaire to get richer last year. He sent his former deputy mayor to be the new co. president and restructure the company as the housing bubble burst, so some think he knew what was going on. Used cosmetics kingpin pal to change city law allowing him to run for a third term, on grounds his expertise is key in handling the financial crisis. Owns giant news conglomerate.
Scott Rummler is a creative artist in New York City. He has shown his art work in a number of alternative spaces and currently is in a show at Gravity Arts in Norwalk, CT. He has an MFA from RIT, and works in other areas including Web design, writing, and acting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/srummler/
Note from the Curator:
The original proposal from the artist transformed due to time constraints. Here is the progression:
Initial proposal: "These are images painted on newsprint. Multiple copies will be sent to the Curator. General performance specs are to distribute images to audience, or to tear up by performers, or both, or in any way that best suits the performance, in keeping with the general tenor of this message and final discretion to the Curator."
Version #2: "What I have now is photocopy collages. Not high production values, but there is a precedent for that type of thing and the concept is solid. I'll mail in an envelope tomorrow. Might be nice to do something more high fidelity but not enough time, so I hope you can use these."
Further Clarification: "The connection is tabloid journalism: both guys brought down by doctored news media. Keep or leave as you like. I'll send a few more more that highlight that.. but if they are not shoe-ey enough you can leave them out."
David Chin and the Curator weren't sure how to use the xeroxed collages in an audience participatory action. Many people potentially didn't even know who Adlai Stevenson was and would be puzzled by the headlines. For this reason, the Curator decided to use them in the exhibit and scattered them on the floor in a somewhat haphazard manner (and stepped on them for good measure). The artist was fine with the resultant installation of disposable media and presumably disposable politicians.
A side note: when the journalist G. Jeffrey MacDonald came to visit the exhibit, he commented that when he was reporting on Howard Dean before he became a presidential candidate, Dean was seen as a conservative by the press and his constituents, a far cry from his later "liberal" platform. Waffles anyone?
Initial proposal: "These are images painted on newsprint. Multiple copies will be sent to the Curator. General performance specs are to distribute images to audience, or to tear up by performers, or both, or in any way that best suits the performance, in keeping with the general tenor of this message and final discretion to the Curator."
Version #2: "What I have now is photocopy collages. Not high production values, but there is a precedent for that type of thing and the concept is solid. I'll mail in an envelope tomorrow. Might be nice to do something more high fidelity but not enough time, so I hope you can use these."
Further Clarification: "The connection is tabloid journalism: both guys brought down by doctored news media. Keep or leave as you like. I'll send a few more more that highlight that.. but if they are not shoe-ey enough you can leave them out."
David Chin and the Curator weren't sure how to use the xeroxed collages in an audience participatory action. Many people potentially didn't even know who Adlai Stevenson was and would be puzzled by the headlines. For this reason, the Curator decided to use them in the exhibit and scattered them on the floor in a somewhat haphazard manner (and stepped on them for good measure). The artist was fine with the resultant installation of disposable media and presumably disposable politicians.
A side note: when the journalist G. Jeffrey MacDonald came to visit the exhibit, he commented that when he was reporting on Howard Dean before he became a presidential candidate, Dean was seen as a conservative by the press and his constituents, a far cry from his later "liberal" platform. Waffles anyone?
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