All Good Children (Gallery 68, Austin, 2008)

The empty execution chamber as seen through the viewing window. 


The cuffed prisoner has been brought in and placed in the chair by the Arresting Officer, who has then cleared the space of
dozens of viewers, who now jam the hallway outside the gallery to get a look through the window.


The photos of five of the victims can be seen in this view. Left to right: Cynthia Toles, Laurence Miller, Regine Basha, Anjali
Gupta, Mike Casey. (File photos courtesy New Mexico State Police).


Catherine Walworth (File photo courtesy New Mexico State Police).


According to Dan Goddard, arts writer for the San Antonio Express-News, the prisoner "has long cultivated the look of a
long-haired serial killer." In this view, the head Curator has shorn those locks and prepares to paint the viewing window black.


The prisoner's head gradually bows as light fades. 


Light continues to fade from the room. For the prisoner, consciousness dims as the viewer's vision blurs, perhaps in some kind
of empathetic reverie.


The head Curator continues to black out the window. 


The Arresting Officer and head Curator leave the building, heading for the wake.


A post-execution detail of the prisoner's wrist. 


The prisoner survives and steps off the platform. 


The prisoner pauses for a mug shot before his appearance at the wake. 


Empty gallery with blacked out window. 


Wall text from Song 44. All Good Children is part of an ongoing concern which thus far also includes Book of The Dead and
Misery Repair Shoppe. 


The evidence which to led to the artist's capture, framed here for proper consumption according to the "contract." It was left in
the living room of Book of The Dead, then found and torn to shreds by a concerned visitor and recovered by Kimberly
Aubuchon, Artpace archivist. 

What it says:

Dear Mr. Snyder,

It seems to me that what your "art" addresses is the contract
between you the (f)artist and me the viewer. To put it bluntly,
I'm extremely annoyed by your piece. "Ah, it worked, a visceral
reaction," you might say. Well, fuck you. It doesn't take an artist
to show a person that, when submerged in darkness without
warning, they might experience fear, in other words, to violate
the aforementioned contract. To use a crude analogy, compare
this (normally hidden) artist-viewer contract to the contract
that says I won't break into your house at night and ass-fuck
you while you sleep. See what I'm getting at? As for your
parting words to the viewer - "Don't be a pussy" - nice font,
by the way, you tasteless fuck, I'll remind you of that when
I'm wiping your shit off my dick and you're bleeding from
your anus. Just kidding. But seriously, fuck you.

Thanks a million,

Mike 

 

 




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