Larger Amount of State Drugs (Větší množství státní drohy) 1999

Exhibition of posters, performance, Gallery of the Academy of Applied Arts, Prague, 1999

With: David Fírek

The exhibition manipulates ads for legal drugs, making them promote illegal drugs instead. While changing as little as possible, the remakes examine “state drug” advertisements and their absurd communication strategies. Part of the exhibition was an opening performance, where large amounts of state drugs were served for free and a screening of the propagandist film Reefer Maddness.

The exhibition manipulated advertisements for legal drugs, changing them so they promoted illegal ones. A play on words is essential to the message. Absurd juxtaposition and irony aim to shock an apathetic public into seeing how state drugs are pushed. For example, a well-known whiskey ad features the legend “the only risk is not to try it.” Pode Bal subvert the ad, replacing the original image with one of a woman snorting cocaine.
(The Prague Post 6. – 12. 10. 1999)

Larger Amount of State drugs (official invitation text)

The state power has since 1999 started forbidding some drugs and recommending others. Nothing new under the sun.
 
Legal drug dealers are respected people, they are privileged by the leading politicians and agents of these State Drugs (StD) which certainly has a positive influence on our economy. In simple words: the StD agents are doing away with the competition for the StD dealers, who advertise and sell their duty stamped junk. To ensure a good market, advertisements are placed all around the country, persuading citizens to take state drugs. The ads mainly show beautiful and enviable young people consuming a certain brand of StD and it is implicitly obvious that this is why they are so attractive.

The fact that advertisements show beautiful and healthy people in connection with alcohol and cigarettes which kill TENS OF THOUSANDS of people every year, is taken for granted and publicly acceptable. If such young and good looking people were depicted taking cocaine or marihuana which kill maybe one person a year in the whole country – that would be outrageous and publicly absolutely unacceptable.

Therefore – Pode Bal invites you to take a larger amount of State Drugs!