In the Name of the Place

December 11, 2023 4:29 PM

Together, Chin and his students made the most critical decision: It had to be secret. No one could know they were the ones sneaking avant-garde art onto television—indeed, no viewer should be aware that any art project was happening at all.
posted by juv3nal (10 comments total)

This blows my mind, and I’m now envisioning making an RU-486 quilt of my own…
posted by web-goddess at 5:42 PM on December 11, 2023

Much like culture jamming, another 90s artistic movement, I applaud the attempt but have to conclude that it's not a very effective way to drive social change. Basically no-one noticed what they were doing on Melrose Place.
posted by Merus at 6:02 PM on December 11, 2023 [6 favorites]

Yeah, I took high school biology and beyond, but there’s no way I would have picked up on a blue-on-blue rendition of the aids virus on a throw pillow held over Grant Show’s crotch for two seconds on standard definition 90s tv.
posted by dr_dank at 6:35 PM on December 11, 2023

This is freaking amazeballs, but also sad nobody noticed, but also if Aaron Spelling had noticed, it would have ended.
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:37 PM on December 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

It's easy to forget how comparatively bad Standard Definition really was. Even when we're watching SD shows today, they've almost always been aggressively upscaled. And if you did record a show on VHS and then try to get a freeze-frame via pausing, the resulting jitter was so much that you'd be challenged to see that there *was* a pattern on the bedspread, let alone that it was unrolled condoms.

It sounds like they had fun and followed their passion though, so good on 'em.
posted by microscone at 9:17 PM on December 11, 2023 [2 favorites]

Actually amused to find out this wasn't done by someone from CalArts, which is right down the road from Santa Clarita Studios (where MP was filmed). Because as someone who grew up there, artists smugly unveiling "provocative" art that no one even notices was definitely often a CalArts thing lol.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 10:42 PM on December 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am a scenic and prop designer for theatre.
If you think props folks aren't doing this every minute of the day, you are not looking closely enough.
posted by Adridne at 6:38 AM on December 12, 2023 [11 favorites]

Ha! I posted about this way back in 2007 (main link now sadly dead). I love it.
posted by goo at 4:41 PM on December 12, 2023 [3 favorites]

Actually amused to find out this wasn't done by someone from CalArts

Except that it was? Mel Chin was teaching at Cal Arts and enlisted students from both there and UGA.

I do love that even under ideal circumstances most of this stuff wouldn't have been particularly noticeable on a normal-sized TV from a normal viewing distance, but they did it anyway.
posted by uncleozzy at 6:40 AM on December 13, 2023 [1 favorite]

This is fascinating! I really like the final point that something like this would have absolutely not been a secret if it were done today because how we watch and discuss tv is so different from the broadcast era.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:20 AM on December 17, 2023