Jesse Robinson
Lot of 3 Gerber Mini Suspension TSA Confiscated Mini Multi Tool B7,Lot Of 10 small Pocket tool Knife/File/ Scissors Stamped Carolina Confiscated,Lot Of 30 Stainless TSA Confiscated Corkscrews Lot 532; Confiscated knives and corkscrews, wood, epoxy putty, microfiber, mounting hardware, and magnets; 74 x48 x 2.25 inches
6 Black & RED Las Vegas Promo Multi Pocket Survival Knife KeyRing TSA and 10 ASSORTED KNIVES FISHING AIRPORT CONFISCATION LOT 629H; Confiscated scissors, wood, epoxy putty, microfiber, and magnets; 4 x 24 x 1.5 inches
20 PAIRS OF SCISSORS AIRPORT CONFISCATION LOT 619Eand 15 NAIL ART SCISSORS AIRPORT CONFISCATION LOT 711D; Confiscated scissors, wood, epoxy putty, microfiber, and magnets; 36 x 48 x 1.5 inches
These works center around small groups of commodity objects (nail clippers, knives, scissors) that have been confiscated by the Transit Security Administration (TSA) and then sold through online auctions.
In addition to all the ordinary meanings and associations attached to scissors and nail clippers these ready-mades carry with them a new additional text. All of our collective fears and anxieties about post-9/11 geopolitics sublimated into toenail clippers, four-ounce containers of hair gel, and five-dollar bottles of airport water.
With these works I intend to preserve the state in which the possibility for violence and terror is mapped onto a rather innocuous object. The specific arrangements of each group of objects replicate the photographs featured in the online auctions. Sold in lots, the sellers arrange the objects in a quasi-evidentiary fashion, grouping similar objects and attempting to photograph them accurately. My reliefs solidify this usually temporary transactional condition, (this state between contraband and retail commodity) and bind the individual objects together as a collection.
