Museum of Censored Art: A first look
Click on the photo above for a gallery of images from the Museum of Censored Art.
UPDATE 3:45 P.M.: Things have quieted down at the Museum of Censored Art since this morning's media frenzy. There haven't veen any visits from cops, or any disruptions whatsoever – and just in case, their permit is prominently displayed in the trailer. They've had a semi-steady flow of visitors, sometimes enough to fill the entire trailer, and sometimes a long period of emptiness. They're guessing they've drank hundreds of cups of Dunkin' Donuts coffee since the morning.
"You guys also need a cafe and bookstore," one woman said to the pair, her breath visible.
"And a hot tub," said Iacovone.
After their visit from CNS News this morning, they relish the idea that they might be on the Drudge Report, as the previous story about Wojnarowicz's work was. They're not afraid of the phone calls and conservative ire they'll attract. The only thing that worries them is the funding of the gallery. Blasenstein estimates that it will cost $6,000 by the time the show comes down. They've already paid about $1,500 apiece.
"It hurts to see your bank account get decimated so quickly," said Iacovone.
Blasenstein has also depleted much of his vacation time. He had already planned to take these next two weeks off for a trip to California, which he canceled to start the gallery. While some of his coworkers know about what he's up to, he hasn't been too forthright in promoting it.
"I'm not going to be like, 'Hey everybody, check out my gay art protest trailer,'" he said.
At one point while TBD was present, a large group of 10 people came in, and stayed for several minutes to watch the video Two of the girls, Karin Esmieu and Jillian Bucci, had been in the Museum of Censored Art earlier that morning, and had been all but ambushed for a soundbite by the multiple TV crews covering the event.
"They confused us," said Esmieu, who was curious about her appearance on Voice of America. "I said something about freedom of speech."
"I said it was nasty," said Bucci. The girls said they didn't know the video was about AIDS until they read the signs on the wall.
"It was a good video, I just got confused," said Esmieu.
"I've been watching this video for almost two months, and I'm still confused," said Blasenstein.
A final observation: The photo of Speaker John Boehner that appears on one of the protesters' signs is very creepy. They swear that it is his official Congressional portrait, and that it has been unaltered in any way. Still, his eyes definitely follow you around the room. Eeek.
UPDATE 1:33 P.M.: Iacovone and Blasentein told Judkis that Portrait Gallery Director David Ward has stopped by. The conversation was convivial. Another visitor was less interested in talking: CNS News, which kick-started the controversy with this breathless report about Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts. The CNS crew did not interview Iacovone or Blasenstein, despite the latter saying hello.
SMITHSONIAN BAN NEWS: Iacovone used the Portrait Gallery's restroom despite being banned for one year from Smithsonian property. He says nobody seemed to mind. Blasenstein went to the hotel across the street when nature called. "I didn't want to break the law," he tells Judkis.
RELATED: TBD's guide to being banned for life from the Smithsonian
ORIGINAL ITEM: Last month, Michael Dax Iacovone and Mike Blasenstein were banned from the Smithsonian. Today they've got a museum of their own outside the National Portrait Gallery.
Maura Judkis is at the Museum of Censored Art, a trailer that shows David Wojnarowicz's video A Fire in My Belly, which was removed from the Portrait Gallery's show "Hide/Seek" following pressure from some social conservatives.
Judkis says Iacovone and Blasenstein have "some pretty slick-looking signs" inside the trailer, including one poster with a five-paragraph statement from "Hide/Seek" co-curator Jonathan Katz that ends "I am sad for us all." One poster specifically attacks Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough.
On the gallery's back wall, video is being shown. The Museum of Censored Art has collaborated with New York's PPOW Gallery, which manages Wojnarowicz's estate. The video that they're showing is the same edit that is shown in the museum, and it has special audio, which was taken at an AIDS protest that Wojnarowicz participated in. Some people who knew Wojnarowicz, Iacovone says, say you can hear his voice in the audio.
Iacovone tells Judkis that they have not been in contact with anyone from the National Portrait Gallery. He hopes that people from the museum will come into their museum. He expects that they will, especially because, he says, "You don't work at the museum and support censorship."
It's really, really cold inside the trailer, Judkis says. It's battery-powered, and there's only enough juice for the video, not for heat. Iacovone and Blasenstein say they are freezing. They've been drinking coffee all day. They both have day jobs, they tell Judkis, and they're still trying to figure out how they can staff this trailer and work. They met some people at a fundraiser for the museum on Monday, and they're hoping some of them will work out as volunteers. They hope to have two people in the trailer at all times.
They have not yet gotten a visit from anyone who disagrees with them, they tell Judkis, but such a person is welcome: They'd like to have a conversation with them. They'd welcome protesters, too.
There's a Sâuçá food truck parked a couple cars down, Judkis says, in case anyone who works nearby wants to make a lunch date of the museum. Also, there's a screening of Them! at 6 p.m. in the museum, so sci-fi fans can check out the museum before heading to the screening. It's a film about mutating ants. They are not on a cross, like Wojnarowicz's, but still: IRONY.
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