SOUVENIRS: Montalvo Historical Fabrications & Souvenirs
2012
Modified package of bubbles
Silicon Valley, just a few miles away from the gallery, is one of the main characters in the narrative around Montalvo Arts Center. Much of the funding for the Lucas Arts Program (artists residency program) came from the tech industry.
For two months we activated the gallery space, working four days a week on new products labeled with re-examined stories.
Located at the Montalvo Arts Center, a historical site at Villa Montalvo, California, this project presents to the public a souvenir shop that is a "front" for re-examining the complex issues of commerce, empire, and the repackaging of historical narrative. Rough-hewn display tables hold an array of strange and contradictory products such as bottled water ("Hetch-Hetchy Elixir"), false precious stones ("Genuine Faux Fool's Gold"), as well as salvaged remnants of other artists artworks. Viewers are able to peer through and walk around the lattice-like sales counter made of recycled pallets, to see the production space where everything is explicitly made.