OUR PRIME PROPERTY
  • AGENDA
  • Residence (curatorial)
    • Patricia Valencia >
      • Elizabeth Delgadillo-Merfeld
    • Location: Between Present and Future >
      • Ana Mrovlje
      • Larysa Bauge
      • Jeanette Joy Harris
      • Giorgia de Santi with Sabrina Bellenzier
    • Location Location Location >
      • Soyoung Shin
      • Meital Yaniv
      • Ashley Hagen
    • (Tekst) >
      • Elizabeth Medina
      • Daniel Caballero
      • SIobhan Hebron
      • Donel Williams
      • Andrew Freire
      • Seo Yun Son
      • Marissa Yardley Clifford
      • Christine Dianne Guiyangco
      • Joseph Alfred Baca III
      • David Whitaker
    • Association of Hysteric Curators >
      • Michiko Yao
      • Mary Anna Pomonis
      • Cindy Rehm
      • Marjan K. Vayghan
      • Rachel Finkelstein
      • Carolyn Castano
      • Kim Russo
      • Armando Cortes
      • Christine Dianne Guiyangco
    • Sarah Petersen >
      • Gudrun Lock
      • Constance Strickland
      • David Smile
      • Shagha Ariannia
      • Chandler Bryson McWilliams
    • Kean O'Brien - Rural(ity) and Dissonance
    • Malisa Humphrey >
      • White House Permanent Collection Acquisition Proposal: NEA Four
  • PAST
    • 2015 Fall/Winter >
      • Rosalyn Myles
      • Erin Diebboll
      • Nancy Jo Haselbacher
      • Mitch Patrick
      • Tudor Mitroi
      • Vincent Ramos
      • Einat Imber
      • Sydney Snyder
      • Emily Joyce
      • Devon Tsuno
      • Cindy Rehm
      • Michiko Yao
    • 2016 Winter/Spring >
      • MIggie Wong
      • Patricia Burns
      • Joyce Dallal
      • Semi-Tropic Spiritualists
      • Duke Choi
      • Lauren Evans
      • John Trevino
      • Yoshie Sakai
      • Ismael de Anda III
      • Guan Rong
      • Mary Anna Pomonis
    • 2016 Summer >
      • Valery Jung Estabrook
      • Michele Jaquis
      • Cole M James
      • Malado Baldwin
      • L.E. Kim
    • 2016 Fall >
      • James Buss
      • Audrey Chan
      • Elizabeth Ferry
    • 2017 Winter >
      • Stephen Lapthisophon
      • Elana Mann with Jean-Paul Leonard
    • 2017 Summer >
      • Rockhaven
    • 2017 Fall >
      • Kaitlynn Redell and Sara Jimenez
      • Michael Mazurek
      • Dahn Gim and Lisa Myeong-Joo
    • 2018 Spring >
      • Catherine Fairbanks
      • Mildred Beltre
  • FRIENDS
  • contact

Elana Mann with Jean-Paul Leonard

I started working on an “asshole megaphone” idea in the summer of 2015, when Donald Trump first announced his presidential candidacy. The Donald Trump(et) – as it was ultimately named – was finished in September 2016. Formally, the sculpture is a bronze megaphone capped with a cast of an anus plated in 18K gold. The artwork was originally exhibited in my solo show “The Assonant Armory” (Sept. 24 –Nov. 5, 2016) at the Los Angeles gallery Commonwealth & Council.
 
Although my work often involves levity, I rarely create an artwork solely for humor’s sake, and this was no exception. Other sculptures in “The Assonant Armory” amplified the human voice. The Donald Trump(et), on the other hand, does not allow any sound to pass through it. The constricted anus at the end of the megaphone effectively mutes it. I do not believe the anus to be an inherently negative part of the human body, but I do revile the act of “talking out of one’s ass,” of which Donald Trump appears to be a master.
 
When Our Prime Property gave me the opportunity to envision the ideal permanent exhibition location for this sculpture, candidate Trump was President-elect Trump.  Given that unfortunate circumstance, it then seemed only fitting that the sculpture become a central part of the future Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.
 
In collaboration with my husband, designer Jean-Paul Leonard, we envisioned a satirical take on what that presidential library might be (the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library, Resort and Casino?), but quickly found that it’s impossible to satirize a satire. Worse than that, to create an architectural proposal that exists on the cusp of reality would be to normalize an individual and an incoming administration that are uniquely dangerous to free speech, art, journalism, immigrants, women, the LGBTQ communities, minorities of any kind, and the human spirit in general.
 
Once we subtracted the notion that the namesake of the library would have any influence on the facility’s appearance or programming, that freed us up to conceive of the library as a critique of the future president. The Donald J. Trump Presidential Library would then best serve the public good as a sobering space for future generations to reflect on the dangers of oligarchy, fascism, racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, eco-terrorism, celebrity, nepotism and greed.
 
The library will be sited in the rust belt of the United States, in an unmarked field. Visitors arrive through a subterranean parking garage, and the entirety of the complex will similarly be buried deep underground, in a complete absence of daylight. Only at the far end of an exit tunnel will sunlight be visible. In this dark environment, The Donald Trump(et) will be displayed beneath a grand double staircase designed to squat directly over the sculpture (and all visitors arriving to the facility). A perpetual waterfall – its water sourced from the corrosive Flint River – will emanate from the crotch of the twin stairs, completing this contemplative arrival point to the library.
 
Traditional flooring will be eschewed for barren dirt, with visitors advised to wear heavy boots or galoshes to navigate the muddy dank floor of the library. Eventually, hundred of years from now, my sculpture along with the entire collection, will rust, decay and be absorbed back into the earth. In that future, the Donald Trump presidency will only exist as a saga, a myth, a folk story or a cautionary tale.
 

Picture
Elana Mann’s artwork focuses on the act of listening as a potent political act. She has explored active listening in a wide array of settings from private performances in intimate spaces to public installations in city parks. Her exhibitions are often participatory, involving sculpture, collage, performance and/or community programing. Mann received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO and her MFA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA. Mann lives in South Pasadena with her partner, Jean-Paul Leonard and their son. 
elanamann.com
 
Jean-Paul Leonard is a designer for film, television and digital media. Jean-Paul is a graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory and a member of the Art Directors Guild. He is the owner of Company Wide Shut, a creative resource to the entertainment industry since 2001. Company Wide Shut's recent work includes main title designs for Amazon's Transparent and Netflix's One Day at a Time.
 www.companywideshut.com


Our Prime Property 2015-2018
  • AGENDA
  • Residence (curatorial)
    • Patricia Valencia >
      • Elizabeth Delgadillo-Merfeld
    • Location: Between Present and Future >
      • Ana Mrovlje
      • Larysa Bauge
      • Jeanette Joy Harris
      • Giorgia de Santi with Sabrina Bellenzier
    • Location Location Location >
      • Soyoung Shin
      • Meital Yaniv
      • Ashley Hagen
    • (Tekst) >
      • Elizabeth Medina
      • Daniel Caballero
      • SIobhan Hebron
      • Donel Williams
      • Andrew Freire
      • Seo Yun Son
      • Marissa Yardley Clifford
      • Christine Dianne Guiyangco
      • Joseph Alfred Baca III
      • David Whitaker
    • Association of Hysteric Curators >
      • Michiko Yao
      • Mary Anna Pomonis
      • Cindy Rehm
      • Marjan K. Vayghan
      • Rachel Finkelstein
      • Carolyn Castano
      • Kim Russo
      • Armando Cortes
      • Christine Dianne Guiyangco
    • Sarah Petersen >
      • Gudrun Lock
      • Constance Strickland
      • David Smile
      • Shagha Ariannia
      • Chandler Bryson McWilliams
    • Kean O'Brien - Rural(ity) and Dissonance
    • Malisa Humphrey >
      • White House Permanent Collection Acquisition Proposal: NEA Four
  • PAST
    • 2015 Fall/Winter >
      • Rosalyn Myles
      • Erin Diebboll
      • Nancy Jo Haselbacher
      • Mitch Patrick
      • Tudor Mitroi
      • Vincent Ramos
      • Einat Imber
      • Sydney Snyder
      • Emily Joyce
      • Devon Tsuno
      • Cindy Rehm
      • Michiko Yao
    • 2016 Winter/Spring >
      • MIggie Wong
      • Patricia Burns
      • Joyce Dallal
      • Semi-Tropic Spiritualists
      • Duke Choi
      • Lauren Evans
      • John Trevino
      • Yoshie Sakai
      • Ismael de Anda III
      • Guan Rong
      • Mary Anna Pomonis
    • 2016 Summer >
      • Valery Jung Estabrook
      • Michele Jaquis
      • Cole M James
      • Malado Baldwin
      • L.E. Kim
    • 2016 Fall >
      • James Buss
      • Audrey Chan
      • Elizabeth Ferry
    • 2017 Winter >
      • Stephen Lapthisophon
      • Elana Mann with Jean-Paul Leonard
    • 2017 Summer >
      • Rockhaven
    • 2017 Fall >
      • Kaitlynn Redell and Sara Jimenez
      • Michael Mazurek
      • Dahn Gim and Lisa Myeong-Joo
    • 2018 Spring >
      • Catherine Fairbanks
      • Mildred Beltre
  • FRIENDS
  • contact