Elect A Madman You Get Madness, 2004
Project: 2001 - 2008
mixed media
In January 2001 as an act of political protest, Kyle Goen created an iconic image of President Bush with the slogan "Elect A Madman You Get Madness" inscribed underneath. The image combines a readable, flat graphic image of President Bush with text to form a parallel to historical propaganda posters as well as to other artists like Barbara Kruger, forming a readable connection between the Bush administration and fascist governmental control. This simple gesture became an artwork of multiple manifestations that spanned and evolved throughout the eight years of Bush's presidency. Becoming not only a singular artwork but rather, one of continuous variation that became increasingly charged as the political climate transformed into one of disapproval. In what began as a free protest sticker, the image soon progressed into a poster, button, patch, a t-shirt, and finally, into installations. While the work was translated into other mediums, it remained consistently within the ethos of spreading free political paraphernalia that the viewer can take away and use, as he will. It was available for free download from an Arts in Action site, and appeared on multiple blogs and websites, often as a slogan without the accompanying image. The fact that the slogan and the image became separable is of note, for the work is not only a visual protest but also one that saturates the public consciousness.
The fluid existence of the work throughout multiple mediums parallels a fluidity that allows it to exist equally within the context of street protest, the Internet, and the gallery. The poster was exhibited alongside other political protest posters, it has been handed out for free at protest rallies, and it has also appeared paneling entire walls as part of an installation piece at Stay Gold Gallery and subsequently at White Box. These visual connections to different contextual situations forms a symbiotic link between the image as it appeared in the streets and as it appeared in galleries. The work uses different strategies of political protest in different contexts. As the work is encountered in the streets or on the Internet, it acts as a reminder of politics within the everyday. When the work is exhibited in galleries, Goen uses repetition as a means to surround the viewer entirely within a politically charged installation space. His installations at White Box coincided with 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City. Using the celebratory media of the convention such as balloons, banners, posters, and confetti, in combination with the work to create a context of political mockery and strife. When viewing the image within its multiple contexts and various mediums, the work accumulates multiple layers of visual capital while simultaneously remaining a singular image used in different ways. In this way, the image becomes more than a slogan, and indeed, contributed to the language used by the media that connected Bush with madness and madmen.
- Elizabeth Foddé
Installations:
Make Nice, 2004
White Box, New York, New York
America vs. America, 2005
Gallery KlinkogBang, Reykjavik, Iceland
Elect A Madman, 2004
Stay Gold Gallery, Brooklyn, New York