Yes Men, The

The Yes Men use “culture jamming” and “identity correction” as devices to resist and expose the machinations of corporate and political culture. The activist group was founded by Andy Bichlbaum, a faculty member at Parsons, and Mike Bonnano. As an employee of the computer games company Maxis, Bichlbaum inserted controversial code into the game SimCopter which caused male sprites in swimming trunks to appear on certain dates and kiss each other. The code was intended to highlight harsh work practices.

In 2004, Bichlbaum appeared on BBC News as “Jude Finistera,” a supposed representative of Dow Chemical, whose subsidiary Union Carbide was responsible for the Bhopal chemical disaster in India. Finistera accepted full responsibility for the disaster, igniting one of the biggest controversies in art activism as Dow virulently denied the claim. The Yes Men will present a new work that considers personal responsibility in an age of war.

Even When Social Censorship of Beliefs Is Not So Strict, Social Conditions May Fail to (…) Provide Any Material Support and Reward to Those Who Entertain Them. Hence They Remain Mere Fancies, Romantic Castles in the Air, or Aimless Speculations (After John Dewey) 2008

Mixed media

Dimensions variable

Courtesy the artists

New work, commissioned by Parsons for "OURS"