Marcel Dzama

Politics as theater

Vote counting machines. Marcel Dzama creates a diorama in which men with long-Pinocchio noses, controlled by marionette strings engage in a sinister act against a helpless bat, based on an etching made by Francisco de Goya. The voting booth is enshrouded inside a paper curtain (punctured using the voting booth pin) that obstructs a complete view of the action. Signed on the back of the booth. Due to judicial problems concerning the correct counting of votes in Florida, it took more than a month after the election until a final result was decided. When the Supreme Court rejected the final appeal for a recount in certain electoral districts of Florida, the Republican candidate’s victory became official. George W. Bush had won the election for president with a margin of 537 votes in Florida, a figure which is contested to this day. From the 538 crucial electoral votes, George W. Bush was able to secure a majority with 271. (One more than the necessary 270). However, had he won the electoral votes from his home state of Tennessee which he had previously represented in the Senate, Gore would have won the election without the electoral votes from Florida. Already, since the majority of judges in the Supreme Court had been appointed by Republican presidents, criticism regarding the objectivity of the court’s decision had often been voiced. Through public criticism of the vote counting machines in Florida, the Help America Vote Act was drafted and adopted on the 29th October 2002. Right from the start of his term, Florida’s Governor Crist campaigned for the abolition of voting computers. On 3rd May 2007, Florida returned to the traditional paper ballot.

2008, 152 cm x 65 cm x 65 cm, Leim, Gips, Gaze, Papier, Holz, Draht, Blech, Konfetti und Keramik