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DRAIN STOPPER 1964 / 1967 / 1968, 2018
Edition of 5, 2 AP, and 3 to be place in Mexico City, New York and Berlin made in concrete.
Edition of 8, 2 AP made in bronze.

My concrete Drain Stopper is inspired by Marcel Duchamp, a French born artist who died as US citizen and by Donald Trumps rhetorical formula “Drain the Swamp,.” BOUCHE EVIER translates literally as “sink mouth,” but has entered art history as Sink Stop. In common language this utility object is also know as drain stopper, the translation for BOUCHE EVIER I prefer and use for this piece of art. The original BOUCHE EVIER was made in lead by Marcel Duchamp with his own hands in 1964 to be used in his bathroom in Spain. In 1967, Duchamp editioned the piece with Arthur Schwarz in bronze and silvers, each version 100 pieces. There exist also 320 authorized coin versions of this piece, released by the International Numismatic Agency in 1967. The BOUCHE EVIER was one of Duchamp last works as if to stop his death that came the following year in 1968.

The year 1968 was marked with political protests around the world inspired by a sense of liberation on all levels, be it that of students, of women, of minorities, of colonized nations and even of suppressed satellite states of the Soviet Union. In 1968, the Olympic games took place in Mexico City, remembered today mostly for the protests for Human rights and racial equality by Tommie Smith and John Carlos, two American athletes who during the medal ceremony rose their fist in a black glove in honor of the Black Panther movement while wearing Human right badges. Tragically, in Mexico City, protests met a fatal ending with a large scale massacre of students and protesters. Several hundreds died and to this day, no serious investigation has ever been concluded to determine the number and names of the victims. 

To commemorate the ROAD TO FRIENDSHIP Olympic Games art show of 1968, I will place one of my Drain Stopper in CONCRETE in the streets of Mexico City, New York City and one in Berlin. These sink stoppers should be seen again as a renewed attempt to quell and stop the anger of the people in regards to the new fascism that takes hold around the world and was reinvigorated by the election of Donald Trump to the USA presidency. In the USA, and most likely not limited to this country, there is justified anger about racial, gender, and income inequalities, political rage over curtailing and perverting political processes and institutions, and many more issues including gun control and last but not least gentrification. My concrete piece tries to stop the fury that might ensue when no action is taken. Considering the violence in Mexico City, I’m sure a drain stopper will make sense there as well.

DRAINING THE SWAMP (D. Trump)

That was the running motto of now president Trump who has enlarged the swamp. Like a big aniaml has become sysnonmous of the swamp... hence my DRAIN stopper should work in both direction. To stop his Swamp contaminating the rest and to really draining him dwon the canalisation system. A drain stopper reminds us also of water, floods and its opposite, draught. In spite of clear findings by environmental sciences, Washington is in denial of climate change. It is beyond comprehension not to see the result of global warming resulting in fast repeating extreme weather conditions that chase disastrous storms and draughts. Here too my drain stoppers carry optimism to keep nonsense from leaving and optimism for positive decision making rising.

The terrible political language of flooding employed by xenophobic forces is also something these pieces triy to address countering the talk of the “flood” of immigrant, “Mexican rapists" (Trump) and “boat people.” My drain stopper might fail and not t keep all this reactionary new fascist rage in check but it is worth trying. After all, what art does best is failing.

15 x 2 cm - CONCRETE.. AND BRONZE

 

ps: since I have the actual piece in my hand... and we aer instlling it.. I am nicely reminded of the SUBWAY STOP STATIONS of Kippenberger.

at the moment of this picture the concrete was just placed... I ll return and clearn after it dries

due to the illegality of this intervention the exact site is not given.