Joey Skaggs

Part 2

The Crucifixion (1966-1969): "As a young artist living on the Lower East Side of new York City, Skaggs created a two hundred pound sculpture depicting a naked rotting skeletal corpse with a human skull, barbed wire crown of thorns, long human hair, and a metal penis dangling between the legs to protest the hypocrisy of the Church and man's inhumanity to man."
The Hippie Bus Tour to Queens (1968): "Skaggs, having lived on the Lower East Side for a number of years, grew increasingly annoyed by the tourist buses that would cruise through St. Marks Place in the East Village gawking at the long haired hippies. Squares from suburbia, acting as if they were touring a zoo, snapped photos from the safety and comfort of their site-seeing buses".
Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning (1968): "In 1968, with the help of friends, Skaggs constructed a life size Vietnamese Nativity scene. He attempted to erect the sculpture in Central Park on Christmas Day so that he and his friends, dressed as American soldiers carrying plastic and wooden weapons, could burn it to the ground to protest the war in Vietnam."
Fifty Foot Brassiere (1969): "Francine Gottfried was an office worker on Wall Street who had very, very large breasts. When Francine would go out to lunch many Wall Street workers would point, stare, whistle and hoot. Men would stand on top of cars to get a glimpse. (...) Skaggs felt compelled to satirize this fixation on breasts. He decided to hang a fifty foot black brassiere, with two red hearts on each cup, in public. Skaggs' first thought was to hang it around the Statue of Liberty. But all attempts failed. He then tried to stretch it across the Wall Street intersection, but he was removed from a lamp pole, bra in hand, by police officers. Skaggs' third attempt was successful"
Cat House for Dogs (1976): "Cat House for Dogs", said an ad in the Village Voice, "featuring a savory selection of hot bitches..." Along with this ad, a press release was sent to the media saying that if your dog graduated from obedience school, if it was his birthday, or if he was just horny, for $50 you could get your dog sexually gratified."
The three stages of his projects: the Hook shows what Skaggs put out there to attract attention. The Line shows what happened as a result of the "Hook." And the Sinker shows what happened when the piece was revealed as a hoax.