Text, Vivian Kelly
As I make my final preparations for the babes and bikinis trip to Miami [Mercedes Benz Miami Fashion Week Swim] I wanted to discuss something a little more high brow. The Culture Vulture in me loves one of the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art’s latest exhibits – TRIGGER by Type A.
We made sure to meet the artists who created this installation,
Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin [together, they = Type A]
which addressed the topic of fear – a universal emotion, if there ever was one.
Type A’s installation had us hooked so much so that we were the last to leave, after a nice chat with the artists and Aldrich’s Exhibition Director, Richard Klein.
The purpose of the project, the duo explained, was “to explore the reasons Americans feel the need to arm themselves.” This mixed-media installation is comprised of an ongoing series of targets, 35 x 23 inches arranged in neat rows which simulate the feeling of actually being in a target range.
FE friend, Helmut Brenner and I compared notes and came to the conclusion that the “bad guys” in the target range posters reminded us of the scariest stereotypes from our favorite Seventies’ cop shows an movies: Kojak, Mannix, The French Connection.
Richard Klein’s poster was the #1 seller in May.
We were each fascinated for different reasons. Helmut, a businessman who runs the Brenner Foundation] liked how the artists had combined notoriously non-paying art with a very commercial endeavor. The photographic images the artists produced have actually been printed and sold as commercial gun targets by Law Enforcement Targets, Inc., a Minnesota-based company.
Me – I loved seeing all of my scariest bad guys all in one place and facing up to them and finally – FINALLY – putting those bogeymen to rest. It may sound silly, but the walk through was cathartic.
We’re all afraid of SOMETHING. Maybe it’s of the sketchy/scary guy hanging out in a phone booth, or a Rottweiler walking down the street with what “must be” drug-dealers. Maybe your bogeyman is more “out there” . Perhaps it’s something out of “Night of the Living Dead”?
This is worth a walk-through. You have until December 31 to face-up to your scariest baddie.*If one of the targets really strikes your fancy, you can order one of your very own through Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.
To learn more about Type A, visit the Aldrich.org.
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