Lucky Pierre response

Of the artists that we talked about in class in the past few meetings, the art collective Lucky Pierre was the one that caught my attention the most. I really like the concept behind their ongoing “Final Meals” project. Recreating the final meals of death row inmates is interesting to me because I have always found the idea of feeding someone who is about to be executed one last meal featuring whatever they want pretty odd. If someone is about to be executed, then he/she must have done something awful to deserve that, right? Moreover, by executing someone, does that imply that he/she does not deserve life anymore, yet he/she deserves to feast like a king one last time? Yet, he/she is still human, and one last request is not hard to accommodate. Whether you agree or not with the death penalty is a personal opinion. Personally, I am against it, which might be what attracted me to “Final Meals.” (Un)fortunately, Texas, from which all of the last meals in the project were provided, got rid of the policy earlier this year.

In general, though, what intrigues me about Lucky Pierre is the community aspect to much of their work. Everyone who eats a “final meal” is a volunteer. They also used volunteers for their “Swearline” project, which “invited participants to call a voice mailbox and record their interpretation of swearing.” Another example was “Lucky Pierre Speaks Urban Format Radio.” For this project, Lucky Pierre and 40 friends, guest performers, and colleagues listened to the radio station B-96 and “repeated/interpreted the radio station’s words, music, commercials, and DJ banter,” which was then recorded. I think the use of community in art makes it more powerful because it allows more people to connect to the message or intention of the piece.

The picture is of how the “Final Meals” project is presented in exhibits.