Hasta La Ideas

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pIf the objects we own say a lot about who we are, then what do objects we try to covertly hide in luggage and smuggle into the United States say about us? With her series “a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/30/magazine/20100801-taryn-simon-contraband.html#/all/”Contraband/a,” photographer a href=”http://www.tarynsimon.com/”Taryn Simon/a explored this train of thought by exhaustively photographing items detained and seized from the International Terminal at John F. Kennedy Airport in NYC. The photos of objects, including a pitcher of salami, guinea pigs from Ecuador, and cow-dung toothpaste, were a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/07/30/magazine/20100801-taryn-simon-contraband.html#/all/”published/a by the New York Times Magazine back in July, and an a href=”http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2010-09-22_taryn-simon/”exhibition/a of some of the 1075 images goes on view starting September 22 at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills, CA./p

pSimon shot each object against a grey-white background, removed from its context, forensically open to examination and imagination. Alone, each item is interesting enough just in what it is and the fact that it was in someone’s suitcase, but the objects further bring to mind questions of human behavior, desire and motivation: who carried it and to whom, and why? Also interesting are the unsuccessful packing and hiding methods revealed. Meat in a bottle? Pills in a flour bag? A plant in a cigarette box? /p

pAdditionally, some of the artifacts, like heroin and dead animals, are obvious red flags. But then there’s the mildly innocent, like the counterfeit Disney nesting dolls, probably the souvenir of some poor unsuspecting tourist. /p

pThe New York Times also has more on the project a href=”http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/30/behind-49/”here/a./pa href=”http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/contraband_documents_illicit_objects_that_go_through_jfk_17375.asp”(more…)/a
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