Adam Jacono

In the image above, I’m holding a paper that warns of a strong arm robbery from ECU security (see below). The sign says, “I LOVE YOUR LOVE,” which is in reference to the irony of supporting our ECU football team, the Pirates, coupled with the historical connotation of a pirate, and our contemporary version of a pirate through Johnny Depp in The Pirates of the Caribbean.

Message from ECU security:

An ECU student reported that at approximately 2:00 am on February 24th, he was the victim of a Strong Arm Robbery near the north side of Mendenhall.  The victim reported that he was assaulted and personal items were taken from his person.  The victim described one of the suspects as a black male, approximately 6’5” in height, weighing approximately 250 pounds, and being approximately 30 years old.  He was reported to be wearing baggy style jeans, a white shirt, black Timberland boots, and having shoulder length dreadlocks.  The victim further reported that there were three to four additional suspects, but no further detailed description is available.  Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the ECU Police Department at 328-6787.  Information can also be provided through the ECU Police website at www.ecu.edu/police.

Students, Staff and Faculty are reminded to avoid walking alone at night and to avoid areas with poor lighting.  Be mindful of your surroundings at all times and report suspicious persons or activity as soon as possible.

We live in a society that propagates violence through video games, movies, and advertisements. Violence has always been associated with pirates; pillage and plunder is the ongoing motto. In the South, especially in Eastern Carolina there are numerous folktales about pirates inhabiting the waterways. One pirate regional to this area is Blackbeard, the ravaging maniac by some accounts would shoot crewmen on the fly and disgrace women at will. However, Blackbeards’ character is trademarked on nearly every ECU piece of kitsch: cups, hats, t-shirts, towels, stickers, etc.. He is personified as our school leader, our football team are his mates, and the school his deckhands. Pirate football is none other than an excuse to live the life of Blackbeard, drink till’ you’re on the ground, chase some tail, and maybe knock over a sculpture or two (http://www.dailyadvance.com/content/vandals-destroy-sculpture-ecu-campus-11354). I realize this is a bit cynical, and not all Pirates fans are this extreme. The point is, pirates contextualize a certain rowdiness that make football games a haven for partying in the name of violence.

So, I decided to put up some posters today for my stolen cat carrier sculpture back in December. I figured contextualizing the theft with the “Collegiates In Cuffs” page from Jailbird—a weekly mugshot newspaper in Greenville—would be plausible. Unfortunately, the mug shots were censored and taken down by SOAD staff almost immediately. I figured the posters were too, eh… posterish, and less about conceptual artmaking. I decided to combine the two images in a large poster that speaks to craft through painting and collage… maybe since it’s art the staff won’t meddle? We’ll see.
*Update: 1/3/2010

A “Collegiate in Cuffs” (see Jailbird, Pitt County Edition Volume 1, Issue 7) student contacted me last night and expressed his dissatisfaction with the posters I put around the SOAD. The student pleaded with me to remove his face from the poster because he was in no way responsible for the stolen sculpture, and even offered that I search his home for proof. Unfortunately, his information was acquired through public knowledge and the issue is now a moral dilemma. However, the poster did imply that a collegiate was responsible for the sculpture, even if the publication noted an unrelated crime. To this I am at fault and do not wish to slander anyone. To the colleague’s defense, I have painted over his and others faces to denounce them from the crime, leaving only possible suspects due to the nature of the crime committed; for example, I did not delete those accused of “Larceny” or “Injury to Real Property.”

PDF here
Published in Artforum April 2009, pp. 210 – 215.
Summary: A historical reconsideration of collage’s transition from the political to the personal after 1969, starting with Raul Huasmann, and ending with Polyvore.com, the essay maps the transition of collage from an experimental art form to a common visual language. Citing popular media formats such as Sesame Street, Electric Company, and MTV, as well as the advent of the digital as primary causes for the shift in the medium. The essay argues that collage has transitioned from the political to the personal, functioning as a popular language of adolescent desire and consumption in late capitalism.