The Illegal Art Exhibit: Art or Exploitation? A Look at the Fair Use Doctrine in Relation to Corporate Degenerate Art

Authors

• Kimball Tyson

Abstract

A gas mask in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head; fake stamps with photographs of Viagra and Prozac pills that actually duped the postal system; Pez candy dispensers with dispenser heads of dead rappers such as Biggie Smalls, Tupac Shakur, and Eazy-E; a recreation of a portrait of Mao using U.S. currency; the use of the Beatle's Meet the Beatles LP cover by a musical group entitled the Residents; a series of violent, disturbing drawings featuring famous cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Barney from the Flintstones, and Bert from Bert and Ernie being hung from nooses or sprawled in a puddle of their own blood after being shot in the head; the Starbucks logo transformed into a green, nipple-bearing mermaid juggling a cigarette in one hand and a cell-phone in the other with the words "Consumer Whore" encircling; a series of photographs of Barbie dolls placed in random kitchen appliances juxtaposed in sexually explicit, awkward positions sometimes with heads chopped off or limbs missing. What do these seemingly absurd, almost sacrilegious, works have in common? They are all a part of the edgy Illegal Art Exhibit that is traveling to some of the most renowned Modem Art museums and galleries in the United States.

Recommended Citation

Kimball Tyson, The Illegal Art Exhibit: Art or Exploitation? A Look at the Fair Use Doctrine in Relation to Corporate Degenerate Art, 9 Computer L. Rev. & Tech. J. 425 (2005)