Artist Steve Maloney's traveling exhibit shows us just what travelers have left behind at airports. Or more accurately, what was taken from them at TSA check points because it was deemed banned to bring on board. The exhibit, "Banned Booty" will now be on exhibit at The Palm Springs Air Museum from Oct. 17 to May 31, 2013.
The Palm Springs Air Museum is known for its World War II aircraft collection and will now feature the abstract works by Maloney. The works are ones that Maloney created from carry-on luggage taken by the TSA at Palm Springs International Airport. From swiss army knives to scissors and more obscure items, the exhibit is a commentary on not only what is taken from us, but how things have changed since 9/11.
"American travel changed radically after September 11, 2001. The Banned Booty series captures a small aspect of this change. What used to be routine - checking into a flight and passing through the final security check point with no concern for the nail fioles or scissors stuffed in your bag - was transformed into a drawn-out endeavor," Maloney said on his Banned Booty website. "We all learned to surrender to the new ways, to get used to the Transportation Security Administration officers rummaging through our suitcases and carry-ons ..."
What he found through his project was an assortment of items confiscated by TSA. He had no names or backgrounds of the people whom it belonged to so he started to create personas.
"With no information available on the passengers who tried to travel with the confiscated goods, I began creating personalities with my art. What did these carry-on items say about the owners? Armed with 21st-century passenger booty, I shaped artistic interpretations of our time," he said on his website.
The things he found included the standard, scissors, knives and the more obscure including a Chinese frying pan and deer antlers.
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