DEMO is a multimedia exhibition by artists Juan Obando and Yoshua Okón that explores “astroturfing”, a marketing practice that generates artificial public demonstrations intended to appear as grassroots political movements. Through video, sculptures, and installation, the artists expose how astroturfing methods are used to manipulate public perceptions and neutralize political action.

The exhibition includes a series of video installations presenting a “blank” artificial protest staged by Obando and Okón. The artists hired a prepaid demonstration service to provide a crowd of actor-protesters to perform a public protest devoid of content in front of the Arizona state capitol building in Phoenix, AZ. In each video, actors gesticulate in protest without making any sound, carrying blank signs and wearing garments saturated in ‘Digital Green’ as a placeholder for political messaging. Commonly used in video production as a background color to create special effects, Digital Green also recalls AstroTurf, the synthetic grass from which astroturfing derives its name. This color extends throughout the exhibition to immerse viewers in the fill-in-the-blank aspects of these staged protests. DEMO also displays a functional trailer—like the ones that haul the props used to stage on-demand protests—in addition to sculptural assemblages composed of content-less protest signs, and other ephemera.

Engaging the aesthetic, gestural, and performative dimensions of astroturfing, Obando and Okón highlight the power of disinformation on public perception, and urge us to consider the deep-seated intersections of visual culture, civic protest, concentrated capital, and political mechanisms.

Location: Great Hall

Cost:

Adults $7, Students and Seniors $4, Youth Free.
Admission is free on Sundays.