P|S

ahitinsweden:

Felix Gonzalez-Torres “Untitled” (Placebo), 1991

“Untitled” (Placebo) from1991, consisted of 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of silver-foil wrapped candies originally laid out across the floor of the Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York. Placebos are used in clinical trails; they are sugar pills that essentially have no effect on the body. Those who visit the gallery are invited to take a piece of candy; viewers are taking part in a clinical trail of Gonzalez-Torres’ creating. Individuals who participate in actual clinical trials do not know weather they are getting the real pills or the placebo. So too visitors to the gallery are partaking in something not completely known to them, they must put their trust in Gonzalez-Torres. Regardless, these pills, or candy, real or inert, become part of your body in a highly intimate way, for a time, actually becoming part of you. These individuals allow something into their body without fully understanding the implications, a sign of the desperation that griped so many during the AIDS crisis.