Jimmie Durham
image: (c) Maria Thereza Alves
Bedia's Stirring Wheel, 1985
Sculpture
, 115 x 46 cm
aluminium, leather, fur, paint, feathers, skull, string, cloth, steering wheel
Bedia's Muffler and Bedia's Stirring Wheel are part of a series of artworks for which Jimmie Durham created fake Indian artefacts using car parts. Bedia is supposed to be a kind of future explorer.
Durham's accompanying text reads: Jose Bedia, the famous Cuban explorer/archaeologist, discovered this stirring wheel, sometimes referred to as the ‘Fifth’ or ‘Big’ wheel, during his second excavation of the ruins at White Planes in 3290 AD. He believes that the stirring wheel was a symbol of office for the Great White Father, often called ‘The Man behind the Wheel.’ Bedia claims that the chief would stand behind the wheel to make pronouncements and stirring speeches.