pest ac
PEST AC. FOR A BETTER WORLD.
HELL NO group show on view at What Art Can Do, Amsterdam, March 8-25, 2023.
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My move from Amsterdam to New York in 2022 wasn’t just fun. One of the first things I had to buy was RAID, to get rid of the roaches. This spray can is always within reach. Every time a cockroach shows up, it’s PSHHHH: kill. Unpleasant, but necessary.
This brought me to the idea of a new body of work. As an activist, feminist artist I fight for a better world through art. And wouldn’t it be convenient if we could spray away all nasty things in our society? Just like killing roaches? It would end racism, misogyny, sexism, rape, fascism, gun violence, patriarchy, all phobias and global warming instantly. Airco Caravan's Pest Control was born.
The series is a growing collection of spray cans, spray bottles and other products with its own design, killing or protecting its own cause.
Warning: it’s ultra effective. Keep away from faint of heart.
Airco Caravan's Pest Control. For a better world.
Wall installation 43 x 10 feet (13 x 3 meters)
Solid cast resin spray bottles, 4.5 x 11 x 3" (11,5 x 27,5 x 7 cm), 2023
Laser cut fluorescent pink acrylate, stickers, gemstones 5.5 x 13" / 7.5 x 18" (14 x 33 cm / 19 x 48cm), 2023
Laser cut turquoise acrylate, bronze mirror, stickers, gemstones 5.5 x 13" / 7.5 x 18" (14 x 33 cm / 19 x 48cm), 2023
Poster pasting in NYC, spreading the message. Lower East Side
East Harlem
Ode to Report App, the best way to prevent a lot of shit.
Pasted in New York City, on view in group show Her City at Leake Street Galleries online, March 20 - April 30, 2023
Power Trio: Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis and Rosa Parks. On view in group show Resilience, during Women's History Month at Kente Royal Gallery, NYC, March 4-25, 2023.
VOTE PRO CHOICE
I’m not allowed to vote, but I can do something. I pasted posters in New York City before the mid term elections in November 2022, where Trump predicted a giant red wave. It didn't happen... the people in the US don't agree with the abortion ban.
Detail
WOMAN LIFE FREEDOM
After the murder of 22-year-old Masha Amini by the morality police after allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women in Iran on September 16, 2022, protests started. Women have been throwing off their headscarves, burning their hijabs and cut off their hair in public. On December 8 and 12, two protesters, 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari and 23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard were executed. Iranian authorities left Rahnavard’s body on public display, hanging by his neck on a construction crane. Both Rahnavard and Shekari were convicted of “moharabeh,” or “waging war against God,” and after expedited legal proceedings, characterized by human rights groups as “sham trials,” were sentenced to death. Another 12 people got the death penalty. Protests continued and intensified. Women Life Freedom, free Iran!
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Some posters are being ripped off
Some survived
Some times I had to come to the rescue
Still standing strong for months
Spray cans Ends push back
ENDS PUSH BACK
These spray cans are selected for the online exhibition EXODUS.nu in the Netherlands, until September 2023. A repellent spray by Airco Caravan’s Pest Control: “ENDS PUSH BACK. Steel-Plated Border Patrol Repellent; 200% Protection of Refugees. Border cops hate this mace! Abolish Frontex!”
In 2020 I was involved in the protest initiative “We gaan ze halen”: a plane was chartered to pick up refugees in Greece, because the Netherlands refused to stick to their agreements to receive refugees who live in terrible conditions in the Moria refugee camp. Boat refugees are still being pushed back from the European border by Frontex, which is illegal. Refugees are being undressed, robbed and beaten, it’s disgusting and inhumane. In December 2022 a new director of Frontex was appointed: Hans Leijtens, commander of the military police of the Netherlands. Will he end push backs?
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INFINITE BLACKFACE REMOVER
This crazy racist blackface tradition called 'zwarte piet' - black pete - has still not disappeared in the Netherlands. In november 2022, protesters against black pete were attacked AGAIN on the highway before even getting to Staphorst, the village were the nonoviolent peaceful protest was planned. After more than 10 years of activism by Kick Out Zwarte Piet, and decades longer protests by many people of color, this 'tradition' is slowly, slowly disappearing.
Detail. The places mentioned are all villages and cities where the protesters were attacked (and there are more like Rotterdam and Dordrecht). In many cases police was not protecting the protesters. The conservative right wing white hooligans just could attack them. In Eindhoven in 2018 I was at the demonstration and it was frightening as hell. The pure hate. More than 300 hooligans throwing eggs and cans of beer at only 15 peaceful protesters... Media calling the attackers 'soccer supporters' instead of hooligans, and 'counter-demonstrators' instead of terrorists. Police just let it happen.
People are terrified to be called a racist. But they are.
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- more to come -