"Conversion"at the Fugitive Art Center
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Excerpts from the text panels located throughout the gallery: “Conversion
is a commentary on the codification of literal based conceptualism. The
result of art institutions and markets embracing this trend has been of
the loss of emotive, aesthetic and ethereal content. By focusing
primarily on one characteristic with disregard and contempt for other
creative issues the art develops a vernacular of it’s own. Conversion explores the consumerism of conceptual art and the effect that it has had ...this exhibit uses Twinkies® to draw parallels between the effects of Mad Cow Disease on brain tissue and the state of conceptualism in today’s market-driven art scene... -Anne Rose Tiggoni
42 blue Twinkies® are displayed throughout the gallery. Each is titled with a well known 20th century artist's name.
Excerpt: Scientists speculate that there are two similar types of proteins in brains affected by Mad Cow Disease. One is a normal protein found in all mammals. The other is a disease-causing protein that is chemically identical to the original, normal protein. This new protein has the ability to change proteins that it comes into contact with, turning them into a chemically identical but disease-causing form of the protein. This is not a process of replication; it is a process of conversion. Much like the proteins that cause mad cow disease, the Twinkie® is a resilient material. The use of Twinkies® and their conversion to a blue hue is symbolic of the change in the art-market from that of an open forum to one of ephemeral intellectualization. The conversion of this contemporary food product is a fitting iconographic symbol of the effect of commercialism in art.
The Brain Room is located in the center of the gallery containing a large blue foaming brain surrounded by flying Twinkies. Visitors would navigate around the circumference of Brain Room to access the last room containing the final Twinkie®.
Foaming brain surrounded by flying Twinkies®.
Con•ver•sion (ka¨n vur´ zhen) n. a change from one belief, religion, doctrine, opinion, etc. to another. The artist Anne Rose Tiggoni and her installation are the creation of Tim S. Murphy. The gallery visitors at Conversion were unaware of this fact until they reached the final Twinkie® and it's text panel. They were then directed to not to divulge the con with guests who had not seen the final Twinkie®. The visitor's converted state of awareness enabled them to view the two versions of the work; once as regular gallery visitor and the second as someone who had been converted with the knowledge of a larger truth that some others viewing the show had yet to attain.
The last room containing the final Twinkie®.
Tim S. Murphy - Creator of Conversion and creator of Anne Rose Tiggoni (also known as A.R.T.)
Visitor's Pre-Conversion Path
Vistor's Post-Conversion Path After leaving the last room to return to the entrance the converted viewer is now aware of the pre-conversion state of other visitor's and observing them becomes an integral part of the piece.
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©2012 tim s. murphy
