Searching for America by ROBIN KID - Solo show at TEMPLON NYC from Sept 04 to Oct 26 2024 - IDNSWACS - Various materials - Variable dimensions ©ROBIN KID Courtesy the artist - Exhibition view 9.jpg
Corn: an essential grain native to the Americas, cultivated for millennia and a staple of civilization. The story of corn is the story of American appetites. An ancient plant, it was domesticated from wild grasses by early Meso-American agriculturalists who grew varieties in hues from deep purple to blanched bone. The first wave of European settlers were taught by local tribes how to sow ears of yellow gold, ensuring their survival and enabling the further colonization of the continent; entire Midwest states are to this day blanketed with cornfields. Only 15% of the North American corn harvest is eaten by humans, the rest used to fatten livestock and for industrial purposes such as the manufacturing of paper and gunpowder. Before HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) infiltrated thousands of common products, ‘corn fed’ meant wholesome and healthy. It’s still a part of the American daily diet; walk outside the gallery and onto the streets of New York, and you’ll find vendors selling roasted cobs, salt-buttered and steaming.
Here, a factory-size insulated supermarket container has been filled with 75 kilos of real, ripe, fresh corn which is slowly deteriorating, playing with the concept of what a ‘readymade’ can be. Emblazoned on the side is: “I did not have sex with a corn star,” referring to a statement made during the June 2024 Trump/Biden debate which has gone down in history with Bill Clinton’s similar avowal of January 1998. When being replayed on social platforms, the sentence was censored with subtitles switching out ‘porn’ for ‘corn.’ As the flagged word PORN automatically gets content taken down, the neatly rhyming CORN takes its place, and it often even comes with a handy corn emoji 🌽; the digital media addicted generation now uses both as a cover for X-rated activities.
The absurdity of this word-play highlights the bizarre obscenity of politics today. And perhaps, always. Lyrics from American nu-metal band Korn’s ‘Freak on a Leash,’ from their 1998 album ‘Follow the Leader’ talks about an unverifiable, regrettable affair that turns out expensive for both participants: “You and I were meant to be / A cheap fuck for me to lay / Something takes a part of me…” An unverifiable, alleged affair seized upon and churned into ‘entertainment' by the mill-wheel of the media machine. Because, as the Roman Emperors knew well, the people must be delivered Bread and Circuses to ensure smooth government - Juvenal’s Satire X, written in 100BC, states:
“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”
Our equivalent is simply Corn and Porn.
Searching for America by ROBIN KID - Solo show at TEMPLON NYC from Sept 04 to Oct 26 2024 - SFA IV - Oil pant on canvas cast aluminum stianless steel various materials - Variable dimensions ©ROBIN KID Courtesy the artist - Exhibition vew 10.jpg
Searching for America by ROBIN KID - Solo show at TEMPLON NYC from Sept 04 to Oct 26 2024 - SFA IV and VIII - Oil pant on canvas cast aluminum stianless steel various materials - Variable dimensions ©ROBIN KID Courtesy the artist - Exhibition vew 11.jpg
American Cornography -ROBIN KID- Polypropylene, fresh corn cobs, paper, ink - H51xW89to256xD67 in - H130xW225to550xD170 cm-variable install dim ©ROBIN KID Courtesy the artist -Gallery view 1.jpg
2024 - American CORNogography
Corn: an essential grain native to the Americas, cultivated for millennia and a staple of civilization. The story of corn is the story of American appetites. An ancient plant, it was domesticated from wild grasses by early Meso-American agriculturalists who grew varieties in hues from deep purple to blanched bone. The first wave of European settlers were taught by local tribes how to sow ears of yellow gold, ensuring their survival and enabling the further colonization of the continent; entire Midwest states are to this day blanketed with cornfields. Only 15% of the North American corn harvest is eaten by humans, the rest used to fatten livestock and for industrial purposes such as the manufacturing of paper and gunpowder. Before HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) infiltrated thousands of common products, ‘corn fed’ meant wholesome and healthy. It’s still a part of the American daily diet; walk outside the gallery and onto the streets of New York, and you’ll find vendors selling roasted cobs, salt-buttered and steaming.
Here, a factory-size insulated supermarket container has been filled with 75 kilos of real, ripe, fresh corn which is slowly deteriorating, playing with the concept of what a ‘readymade’ can be. Emblazoned on the side is: “I did not have sex with a corn star,” referring to a statement made during the June 2024 Trump/Biden debate which has gone down in history with Bill Clinton’s similar avowal of January 1998. When being replayed on social platforms, the sentence was censored with subtitles switching out ‘porn’ for ‘corn.’ As the flagged word PORN automatically gets content taken down, the neatly rhyming CORN takes its place, and it often even comes with a handy corn emoji 🌽; the digital media addicted generation now uses both as a cover for X-rated activities.
The absurdity of this word-play highlights the bizarre obscenity of politics today. And perhaps, always. Lyrics from American nu-metal band Korn’s ‘Freak on a Leash,’ from their 1998 album ‘Follow the Leader’ talks about an unverifiable, regrettable affair that turns out expensive for both participants: “You and I were meant to be / A cheap fuck for me to lay / Something takes a part of me…” An unverifiable, alleged affair seized upon and churned into ‘entertainment' by the mill-wheel of the media machine. Because, as the Roman Emperors knew well, the people must be delivered Bread and Circuses to ensure smooth government - Juvenal’s Satire X, written in 100BC, states:
“Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses.”
Our equivalent is simply Corn and Porn.