Über Alles
Coca-Cola Über Alles
A.D.Schierning
California Über Alles
Daniel Malone
July 28 - August 29, 1999
In early 1945, a group of German prisoners of war debarked
in San Diego, California, apprehensive and lonely in a foreign
land. When one of them pointed to a Coca-Cola sign on a nearby
building, the prisoners began excitedly gesticulating and talking
amongst themselves. Taken aback, the guard yelled for order, demanding
an explanation from a prisoner who spoke English. "We are
surprised," he answered, "that you have Coca-Cola here
too."
Staging simultaneous exhibitions at The Physics Room and High
Street Project, A.D.Schierning and Daniel Malone have infected
both spaces with their own unique brand of social interrogation.
In Über Alles the two artists have joined forces to explore
the transformation of aesthetics in the service of cultural, political
and economic ends, subverting the significance of popular iconography,
from the ubiquitous yellow smiley face to Sailor Moon.
Malone is well known for his provocative performance and installation
works, drawing on a richly associative recombination of everyday
objects to challenge the ways in which language and cultural signifiers
are interpreted by his audience. Schierning's recent videos of
Manga style Asian superheroines and Coca-Cola logos similarly
undermine our expectations of pop cultural experience.
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