It is a well known fact that, sooner or later, every piece of art becomes a market product. However, what can be more ironic, meaningful and ambiguous than a bag of gum candy launched as an art project in the spirit of museum souvenirs?
In the form of the David® gum candy artistic and industrial products are being equalised. Here, the thought of not being able to enjoy a genuine experience and perception of famous pieces of art, which are in the contemporary iconosphere constantly reproduced and combined with other types of images, is translated into a problem of literal consumption of an image also bringing to life its symbolic consumption.

There is no visible difference between the Davids. They are distinguished by the taste – their hidden substance – which is identified only when tasted. The visual indifference is here wittily transferred to the level of taste – an intimate sense, as specific to an individual as a fingerprint. The act of tasting requires a direct proximity, an exploration by touching which replaces the distance of looking. Therefore, the author is here entertaining the idea of whether or not, by consuming instead of looking at this visually exploited image of an art icon, we will be able to revive it and put it into circulation anew. Will the strawberry and pineapple Davids as well as those “unflavoured” be able to trigger through the sensitivity of our taste buds a different, personal experience and provoke a projection of an “individualised” conception onto an image where the reproductions and “authentic fakes” outshone the original a long time ago?
Nevertheless, on the root of a tongue, the soft candies of an established brand leave a bitter aftertaste of a complete market and museum synthesis, which the artist uses to lure us into the trap of commodification the same way the manufacturer does with the future consumer. In shift, that represents visual through the sense of taste, there is a paradox in which an image can no longer be seen; however, it can be felt and experienced when it turns into sweetness on the tip of a tongue.

Installation view with poster and vending machine for distribution of candy

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The artistic representation, today equated with the contemporary visual culture, is defined by epidemic circulation of transformed and retrained images that are ready beforehand and taken out of the mass culture or other forms of tradition. It strives not only for the viewing in the sense of labeling and leaving the vital memory trace but also for the media absorption of the meaning of the logo as the symbol of the merchandise fetishism. That, at the end, leads to the erasure of the image that is preserved only as a proper sign in the new labeling chain.

The strategies of marketing are being appropriated in the context of art. The basic model sex sells is connected to the aesthetics of fashion industry, selling life style and status. The product, that enables that, is usually a material carrier of logo. Similarly, on each photograph appears an image of David (wallpaper, souvenir, tattoo, jewellery, ...) in company with model. The photographs impose to the consumer a notion of their connection.

SS3/David®, c - print, size vary

SS4/David®, c - print, size vary

SS5/David®, c - print, size vary

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