David E. Stone
SUGGESTIVE PERSUASION - January 2004
One Year in LA
January, 2004 Exhibition Description
Patron and Souvenir Editions from January
For the first exhibition (which was my introduction to Los Angeles), Suggestive Persuasion was a secret performative action that took place in 42 movie theaters throughout southern California during January, 2004. This was an allusion to both Hollywood & the film industry as well as the subliminal experiments, James Vicary, a marketing specialist, allegedly conducted in a movie theater in Fort Lee, New Jersey in the mid-1950s. Having this first exhibition take place inside a darkened movie theater is akin to a pre-birth womb experience in the context of the cradle-to-grave progression of One Year in LA.
Vicary's experiment, which he later revealed to be a hoax, was to rapidly flash the words, Eat Popcorn and Drink Coke during the showing of a film at a speed not discernable by the human eye (1/3000th of a second). Subsequently, this process was to have increased the sales of those refreshments at the theater.
At the time, he stated that the sales of these refreshments had drastically increased as a result of this subliminal persuasion, however, he later proclaimed that the results had been fabricated. The idea that one could be manipulated without one's knowledge struck fear into the American public to the extent that as late as 1974 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) banned subliminal advertising from radio and television.
Suggestive Persuasion consisted of two 35mm slides (images taken of red and blue neon text) being projected during the movie intermissions alongside the various other advertisements for local businesses, food items and trivia questions. Fifty years later, I was also projecting the purported persuasive suggestions, Eat Popcorn and Drink Coke, onto movie screens (at the Laemmele theaters (a theater chain that typically shows foreign and art films throughout southern California)) but for this exhibition the phrases are depicted slowly (not at super speed) as intermission slides in between the film showings. Although not intended to convey a subliminal message, the presentation of the text and obviousness of the suggestions appeared strangely out of place even though the message is in the perfect context for it to make sense.
The exhibition in the gallery space on San Fernando Road depicted newspaper advertisements of the current films being shown at the Laemmele theaters along with other supporting works including the Patron & Souvenir limited edition prints, copies of text prints being sold daily on eBay and empty Smart Water bottles (that were consumed each day with a diarist text was written on the exterior).
- David E. Stone
Relive the live movie theater experience (by clicking on the image above) by watching this video showing the intermission slides from the
Laemmle Theaters in January, 2004 including DRINK COKE and EAT POPCORN
video, 6:57 minutes
Installation image - Laemmle movie theater advertisements in the LA Times
Laemmle movie theater advertisements in the LA Times
Installation image - Souvenir Postcard edition and the two Patron edition prints
the two Patron edition prints
Installation image - Empty Smart Water bottles with daily diarist entries by David E. Stone
Empty Smart Water bottles with daily diarist entries by David E. Stone
Patron and Souvenir Editions
Mixed Message, Souvenir Edition, 2004
4" x 6", signed & numbered postcard, edition of 365, $250.00 (set of 12 postcards including shipping)
Eat Popcorn, Patron Edition, 2004
13" x 19", signed & numbered digital print, Ultrachrome Ink on
Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper, edition of 12, $10,000.00 (all Patron works as a set)
Drink Coke, Patron Edition, 2004
13" x 19", signed & numbered digital print, Ultrachrome Ink on
Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper, edition of 12, $10,000.00 (all Patron works as a set)