A collaboration between artists Alex Schweder and Dieter Janssen yielded both an art installation of heat-sensitive urinal decals and a board book called Peeple.
In the designers' words "Peeple are playthings for peetime. They are heat sensitive decals with two layers installed on the interiors of upright urinals. When heated by urine, the top layer disappears thereby revealing the characters in their underclothes."
The three part project, and accompanying board book, introduces The Joneses, a betrothed couple (Judy and Brett) and Stars and Stripes, three soldiers named Kyle, Rick and Tim respectively. All fully clothed initially, then, as the action unfolds, they all find themselves installed in urinals in various states of urine-induced undress.
The narrative inherent in this unveiling explores the disjunction between a person's external presentation of him or herself and their private lives.
The campy texts and playful images tell a light-hearted tale of the humorous and often treacherous terrain that must be crossed between public and private identity.
This work is presented as a limited edition book in which three narratives unfold using various characters. This small thick board book's materiality alludes to child like play and humor while difficult subject matter is explored. It is hard to find, but below are some links to used and new ones.
Alex Schweder's Peeple: a Three Part Installation - The Joneses, Betrothed & Stars and Stripes.
Behaviour Press Inc., 2002. Glossy yellow boards; yellow cloth spine; 22 pp.; pages are thick boards; Profusely illustrated in color; Printed in an edition of 500.
You can buy Alex Schweder's PEEPLE
used from Amazon (without the decals).Or here from Mullen books
Or here from Art Metropole.
Or here from CoCA.
Or here at Printed Matter.
