Don’t
Stand Under a Forklift While Playing the Accordion gives the
appearance of an absurd industrial cartoon, but its tone is distinctly ominous.
While other works in the AIDS series depict only a single torso, “...Forklift...”
is comprised of an abstracted forklift holding a shipping crate over the head
of a full figure, a glittery red accordion embedded in its chest. The international
symbol of forbidding in ruby red neon emphasizes the direction of the arms
and extends beyond the figure. The title is stenciled onto the floor in front
of plywood panels. Lakich recounts seeing a confounding bumpersticker, “Use
an Accordion, Go to Prison,” that sparked her interest in incorporating
the instrument into a sculpture.
The largest in the series, Lakich lent the sculpture to Museum of Neon
Art board president Danny Justman, who, at the time, was her best friend.
She and Tony Atherton installed the work
in Justman’s
condo
in West Los Angeles. When Justman quit the Board over a dispute in 1994, he
refused to return the sculpture to the artist claiming that the Museum owed
him $6,000. As the Museum is a nonprofit organization with a Board of Trustees
of which Justman was the president, Lakich was not responsible for the financial
decisions of the Museum. In fact, Justman was paid the money by then director
Mary Carter, but he did not cash the check at the time, believing that the
Museum was in financial difficulty.
When a new Board and new director, Kim Koga, took over the Museum,
they felt no obligation toward Justman or Lakich; nor did they have any interest
in clearing up the Museum’s debts.
Lakich considers the work stolen along with another work,
Dazzle Draw, that she lent to Justman’s business partner,
Rae Grieco.
DON'T
STAND UNDER A FORKLIFT WHILE PLAYING THE ACCORDION, 1989
Aluminum, wood, rubber, accordion, Fresnel lens, plexiglass, paint, glass tubing
with argon and neon gases
192 x 162 x 18 in
(488 x 412 x 46 cm)
