Halloween countdown post #11: Rerun: Filler (orig. 10/21/12)

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'Felix Gonzalez-Torres's “Untitled” (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)" is an allegorical representation of the artist’s partner, Ross Laycock, who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1991. The installation is comprised of 175 pounds of candy, corresponding to Ross’s ideal body weight. Viewers are encouraged to take a piece of candy, and the diminishing amount parallels Ross’s weight loss and suffering prior to his death. They also take a bit of melancholy-tinged shiny sweetness, a communion with the beloved in joy and death. Gonzalez-Torres stipulated that the pile should be continuously replenished, thus metaphorically granting perpetual life.

'This morning I found my piece of gold-wrapped candy from an installation of this work. I still can’t bring myself to eat it. Maybe I can’t make the move from melancholia to mourning? I seem to be resisting the work’s designed disappearance. But then again, the work is also designed for constant renewal; the pile of candy is replenished to its original weight each morning. Perhaps if the work were permanently installed around the corner with its promise of a breath of life each day, I could take that sweetness and loss into my mouth.'-- Julia Steinmetz


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'Candy cigarettes are a candy introduced in the early 20th century made out of chalky sugar, bubblegum or chocolate, wrapped in paper as to resemble cigarettes. Their place on the market has long been controversial because many critics believe the candy desensitizes children, leading them to become smokers later in life. Because of this, the selling of candy cigarettes has been banned in several countries such as Finland, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

'The U.S. state of North Dakota enacted a ban on candy cigarettes from 1953 until 1967. In Canada federal law prohibits candy cigarette branding that resembles real cigarette branding and the territory of Nunavut has banned all products that resemble cigarettes. In the United States, candy cigarettes are typically sold next to bubble gum and trading cards, but some retailers refuse to sell them. For instance, Wal-Mart bans the sale of tobacco and tobacco look-alike products to minors in its stores nationwide.

'Candy cigarettes predispose children who play with them to smoke the real things later, new research concludes. The study is the first to show a statistical link between a history with fake cigarettes and adult experiences with real smokes—22 percent of current or former smokers had also regularly consumed candy cigarettes, while only 14 percent of those who have never smoked had eaten or played with candy cigarettes often or very often.'-- collaged




























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'Several events fostered the candy tampering myth. The first event took place in 1964, where an annoyed Long Island, New York housewife started giving out packages of inedible objects to children whom she believed were too old to be trick-or-treating. The packages contained items such as steel wool, dog biscuits, and ant buttons (which were clearly labeled with the word ”poison”). Though nobody was injured, she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to endangering children. The same year saw reports of lye-filled bubble gum being handed out in Detroit and rat poison being given in Philadelphia.

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'The second milestone in the spread of the candy tampering myths was an article published in the New York Times in 1970. This article claimed that "Those Halloween goodies that children collect this weekend on their rounds of ‘trick or treating’ may bring them more horror than happiness", and provided specific examples of potential tamperings.

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'In 1970, a 5-year-old boy from the Detroit area found and ate heroin his uncle had stashed. The boy died following a four-day coma. The family attempted to protect the uncle by claiming the drug had been sprinkled in the child's Halloween candy.

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'In a 1974 case, Timothy O'Bryan, an 8-year-old boy from Deer Park, Texas, died after eating a cyanide-laced package of Pixy Stix. A subsequent police investigation eventually determined that the poisoned candy had been planted in his trick-or-treat pile by the boy's father, Ronald Clark O'Bryan, who also gave out poisoned candy to other children in an attempt to cover up the murder. The murderer, who had wanted to claim life insurance money, was executed in 1984.

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'By 1985, the media had driven the hysteria about candy poisonings to such a point that an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found 60% of parents feared that their children would be injured or killed because of Halloween candy sabotage.

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'In 1988, Maryland Hospital Center discovered a needle in a candy bar when some Halloween candy was X-rayed. The case was never solved.

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'In 1990 in Santa Monica, California, a 7-year old girl named Ariel Katz died of heart failure while trick or treating. However, the child had heart problems from birth and the autopsy stated she died of an enlarged heart.

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'A 1990 case involved Ariel Katz, a 7-year-old girl who died while trick-or-treating, but her death was subsequently found to be due to congenital heart failure.

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'In 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, James Joseph Smith was charged with intent to cause death, harm, or illness after handing out candy bars with needles in them. One child was pricked with a needle when biting into a candy bar but no one was seriously injured.

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'In 2001, a 4-year-old in Vancouver died the day after trick-or-treating (resulting in police alerts to dispose of all Halloween candy), but the autopsy revealed that she died from an overwhelming bacterial infection.

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'In 2008, candy was found with metal shavings and metal blades embedded in it. The candy was Pokémon Valentine's Day lollipops purchased from a Dollar General store in Polk County, Florida. The candy was determined to have been manufactured in China and not tampered with within the United States. The lollipops were pulled from the shelves after a mother reported a blade in her child's lollipop and after several more lollipops with metal shavings in them were confiscated from a local elementary school.

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'In 2008, some cold medicine was discovered in cases of Smarties that were handed out to children in Ontario, Canada.'-- collaged















'Recently I found myself holding the DVD for the long-forgotten follow-up to the surprisingly effective urban legend supernatural slasher Candyman in my hot little hands. Since the film was one of the earliest directing jobs of gay director Bill Condon – who has since gone on to direct Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters and Kinsey and will next be tackling the final film in the godawful Twilight franchise – I thought I’d actually watch the thing all the way through and see if it demonstrated any of the fledgling director’s brilliant promise.

'It’s not remotely scary. It’s barely even interesting. Were it not for the wonderfully unfortunate mid-’90s fashion and some hilariously inappropriate moments (mostly courtesy of Ronnie C. and Carhart, who seem to be having way more fun with all of this than anyone else) it would be pretty much unwatchable. Like most early ’90s horror, this is a veritable time capsule of wearable terror. It’s got Kid ‘n Play hair. There was one confirmed Hillbilly Tuxedo. I think I even spotted a kaftan or two, but I can’t say for sure; at points I was too blinded by the blunt bobs and butt-cuts to look below the neckline.

'Overall, Farewell to the Flesh is a mildly hilarious mess. The attempted scares are fumbles across the board and while there’s a little gore thrown around it’s more laughable than disturbing. Oh – and the Philip Glass score? GARBAGE. I’m sorry, I know the guy’s a genius and what-what but for the most part I find his film work really distracting. Half the time he noodles around in the background of scenes and makes them feel like transition shots, which does little to help a movie as plot-heavy as this one. I don’t remember the score of the first film bothering me (he did that one as well) but here it’s really out-of-sync.'-- Buzz, Camp Blood

















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p.s. Hey. Welcome to the first day of reruns and finger-sized p.s.es. Today you get a bunch of Halloween-related stuff from a few years ago. I hope you like it. I'm in NYC getting ready for the first 'Kindertotenlieder' performance tonight. What are you doing?