SARAH BEDNAREK | Banana
Republic
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Banana Republic, 7/2004, 48in x 96in x 24in, used blue jeans,
wood, foam, cardboard, painted stencil featuring Che Guevara,
string
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I began to see more and more hip kids walking around with Che Guevara
T-shirts. At the same time I saw a picture of Fidel Castro wearing
a business suit giving a speech in front of a rippling American flag.
I thought about how distressed Che would have been to see his image
turned into a signifier of cool fifty-ness, a paltry outcome for a
person so dedicated to his ideology.
Concurrently,
I was thinking about the dissemination of ideas in a dictatorship.
The leader stands above
and shouts at
people. Here
I
have created a balcony typical
of Spanish colonial architecture and a pair of antiquated loud speakers.
All are covered in blue jeans (the populist pants).
Che’s
image is used as a decorative element.
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