Silk Road Objects, 2011
a series of artworks sourced from the online black market the Silk Road, a website only visible through Tor encryption software. Users buy goods from the Silk Road using Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that provides traders anonymity. All objects purchased are displayed and intended for further use by participating viewers. This project debuted at Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam on November 4.
Close-up of duplicated bump keys left over after the opening night.
Bump Keys, 2011 (Schumacher, Troemel, Vierkant)
Lock bumping is a lock picking technique for opening a pin tumbler lock using a specially crafted bump key. One bump key will work for all locks of the same type. Here the artists have ordered 15 commercial lock bump keys to be sent to Showroom MAMA through the Silk Road. Each different bump key, corresponding with a separate lock manufacturing company, has been replicated 20 times and placed on a thin metal stick of iron drilled into the ground. The tower of copied bump keys remains in the gallery, waiting for visitors to take them.
ID Crossing (United States to Netherlands), 2011 (Schumacher, Troemel, Vierkant)
The artists have purchased a state ID card identical to Troemel’s own Illinois Drivers License. Troemel’s real name, address, height, eye color, weight, age, and image are featured on the license. The only thing false is the material legitimacy of the document itself. Troemel used this forged identification card to verify his identity upon entrance to the Netherlands. The display features the real ID card next to the forgery.
Various Seeds, 2011. (Troemel)
A row of plant seeds (Papaver Somniferum, Morning Glory, Peruvian Torch, Hawaiian Baby Woodrose) are potted and placed on a table with natural light pouring over it. In America, each plant carries an ambiguous legal status: they are allowed to be owned as a seed and grown into a plant, but are illegal to manufacture or consume as a narcotic. Each plant will be allowed to grow up until this point of illegality, where visitors in the gallery may choose to take them if they wish.