Honoring the dreams of those unfed, providing the belly
has no head.
Ambrose
Bierce, in his DevilÕs Dictionary, defines poverty as Òa file for the
rats of reform to gnaw onÓ. With a
similar caustic humor and approach of the devilÕs advocate, Wicked Aspirations: PARITY OR BUST critiques the conditions and consequences of current
international economic policies.
An
installation for Wright State University Galleries
In
the center of the gallery, an up to 16Õ diameter inflated and painted weather
balloon (slide #1) is suspended, surrounded with ladders flush against the
walls. Several balloons would be
prepared for the exhibit, each covered by a drawing enlarged from a series of
accompanying framed images (slide
#9). Only one balloon would
be featured at a time. Viewers must circle the balloon to ÒreadÓ an image
abstracted by its magnification and wrapping of the sphere. They must crouch to see the images of
the supplicants and mount the rungs to view that which is craved, thus
identifying with the powerful and the disempowered.
A
series of single and paired framed drawings would complement the central
balloon, enlarging the cast of characters involved in global economic
relationships. These works
may either surround the suspended balloon or hang on walls slightly apart from
it. In the paired drawings, the
lower images (slides #2,3, 4) present Vassals and Tributaries or The Concerned
Beneath Mention while the upper images represent Inflated Interests or
Expendable Expectations. The
gap between them is made literal by an expanse of mat board. Tethered Fancies, a series of drawings
(slides #5-8) visualize the dreams of the six fabular animals, a.k.a. the Vassals and Tributaries or
The Concerned Beneath Mention.
Other
allegorical and technical implications of flattened three-dimensional form are
addressed in additional drawings.
Popped balloons (slide #10), the remnants of disillusion, may be
displayed taxonomically along with the framed drawings.
Vassals and
Tributaries Basic
Conditionalities Inflated
Interests
or The Concerned Beneath Mention: or the Assumption of Burden: or Expendable Expectations:
(lower friezes) (total
framed combination) (upper
images)
Condemned
Crows Stalking
the Countryside (slide#9) Eradication
of Suffering
Delusional
Dogs (slide #2) Bone
of Contention Popular
Sovereignty
Clamorous
Cats (slide #3) The
Lifting of Foreign Reverse
Financial Flows
Investment
Restrictions
and
Hope
Riotous
Rabbits Carrot
and Stick Maneuvers Transition
to Prosperity
Maniacal
Monkeys (slides # 4) Yes
We Have No Just
Compensation
Accountability,
We Have No
Accountability
Today
Subjugated
Squirrels Post-colonial
Shift Alleviation
of Odious Debt
To
greater dependency
Andrew Ellis Johnson Annotated Slide List
Wicked Aspirations: PARITY OR BUST
1.
Ink Wash Test Balloon, deflated state,
1998, 13Ó x 26Ó
What goes upÉ
2. Vassals
and Tributaries: Delusional Dogs,
1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
My dutiful friends await, thereby earning their
proper, respected, expectant place.
3. Vassals
and Tributaries: Clamorous Cats, 1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
The collective cries too loud not to quiet down.
4. Sketch
for Wicked Aspirations: Parity or Bust,
1998
ink on paper, 9Ó x 9Ó
The fulfillment of desire would be too much to
bear.
5. Expendable
Expectation: Reverse Financial Flow,
1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
The stream, constant or never the same, spawns
currents trickling ever up.
6. Expendable
Expectation: Transition to Prosperity,
1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
The carrot and stick maneuver is of unidirectional
design.
7. Expendable
Expectation: Popular Sovereignty,
1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
The bone of contention, the scepter of the
governed, remains (distant) until death.
8.
Expendable
Expectation: Alleviation of Odious
Debt, 1998
ink and gouache on paper, 13 3/4Ó
x 27 1/2Ó
No gray matter, the cumulous of brainstorms are but
nutty propositions.
9. Vassals
and Tributaries: Maniacal Monkeys,
(right panel) 1998
10. Vassals
and Tributaries: Maniacal Monkeys,
(center panel) 1998
11. Vassals
and Tributaries: Maniacal Monkeys,
(left panel) 1998
Andrew Ellis Johnson Annotated Slide List
Wicked Aspirations: PARITY OR BUST
12. Vassals
and Tributaries: Maniacal Monkeys,
(left panel) 1998 (detail)
14. Tethered
Fancies: Salient Speculation, 1998
15. Tethered
Fancies: A Steady Diet, 1998
16. Tethered
Fancies: Dem Bones Gonna Rise Again,
1998
18. Preparing
for Disasters That Have Already Come,
1998
20. Taxonomic
Presentation of Exhibition Slogan ÒParity or BustÓ, 1998