Homeland (In)security

Organized by J.Heer and William Wyler (1954-2006), artists were invited to respond to the civic and judicial effects of the Homeland Security Act, which was hastily passed and ratified by the US Congress after September 11. ++++ Works presented included Installations, performances and various paintings and actions. Interesting was, that although most artists reflected the erosion of civil rights, several artists also presented work deepening the fear that gripped the country at this time, magnifying the need for restrictions. ++++ Galaxy, Charlotte, NC 2002

Works presented by J. Heer

Untitled Installation, various Materials including sound, visualizing a total network of surveillance of the personal space. ++++ Surveillance deflectors: White overalls, painted with "listening in prohibited" emblems. ++++ Performance: Three dark-suited officers discreetly close in on a visitor and take him into a small booth. Sitting down in complete darkness, the "suspect" is asked benign but suggestive questions. At certain answers, a blinding flash occurs. After about three minutes, the visitor is released without comment. ++++ There were stunning sentiments recorded. ++++The big Squawk consist of 5 toy parrots equipped with the ability to speak simple sentences such as "I love you" as well as the ability to learn what they hear. Installed in a contained room, several parrots were fed the sentence: "you are a terrorist," which they then integrated into their random speech and taught to the other parrots. This caused the sentence to deteriorate over several minutes until it all ended in a undistinguishable scream!

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