Timothy Buckwalter, blogger, artist, former Philadelphian (he went to Tyler) and now, oral historian, has a wonderful three-part interview with Philadelphia artist Michael Macfeat on his blog. Among other things, Macfeat led the anonymous and curmudgeonly art pranksters the Heretical Society back in the late 90s.
I used to get mail from the Heretical Society and have a stash of their posters, stickers and a bookmark they surreptitiously placed in a bookstore on South Street that I bought.
Here’s my sketch about the bookmark escapade as it appeared in Philadelphia Weekly, May 3, 2000, (PW’s archives don’t go back that far so I’m putting it here for the record):
Steal This Art
This just in from the conceptual art trenches: The Heretical Society–local funny guys and art negativists whose previous poster and sticker campaigns urged “No More Ugly Murals” — just launched a new initiative: shoplaying. That’s the opposite of shoplifting, of course. The Hereticals placed some free conceptual art–laminated bookmarks sporting an image of the Goodyear blimp with the word “create” on it–in bookshops around town hoping that…Well, that’s not really so clear. What is clear–and brutal– is the swift sword of the marketplace in dealing with the concept of shoplaying. In a transaction at Tower Books on South Street, I found that the conceptual art by the Heretical Society (no price tag, no barcode), when placed on the checkout counter, was defined (bookmark), categorized (that shelf equals that produce line), priced ($1.69 each) and rung up in less than 30 seconds. Purchase of a total of two: $3.62. Hey, that’s capitalism creating.
