Paul McCarthy is an L.A. guy. He’s fascinated by Hollywood and legendary figures like Walt Disney, whose work underpins ideas about modern American morality and ethics.
Pinocchio is one of the darker stories that Disney adapted for the screen. It is the story of a wooden marionette who wishes to become a boy. Pinocchio’s nose grows whenever he tells a lie and he’s practically a poster child for misbehavior.
Pinocchio could be the mascot of this exhibition since play offers kind of a safe space to misbehave.
McCarthy calls his boy Pinocchio Pipenose, a brutal industrial metaphor that contrasts sharply with Pinocchio’s loving creation by a wood carver.
Pinocchio Pipenose plays perversely with mass-produced condiments, such as ketchup, mayonnaise, and chocolate sauce. It’s an abject performance of infantile behavior and waste.
When kids play with their food, it’s cute. When adults do it, it’s disgusting.
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