The initial inspiration for POISON comes from Hui Wen's "Acupuncture Anesthesia in Brain Surgery"--a classic example of Maoist propaganda. This skillful blend of communist indoctrination and graphic description of an open brain surgery provided a solid ground for further exploration of the abundant propaganda materials delivering political messages in association with the laws of human physiology and psychology.
Although POISON examines a selection of 12 propaganda texts collected from historically and geographically varied sources, acupuncture as a metaphor functions throughout the piece (e.g. active punctuation marks in all the texts.) Each story, whether in overt or covert manner, makes clear references to at least one of the 12 fundamental physiological drives. All writings have been collected from the following sources: 
                              

1:Acupuncture Anesthesia 
in Brain Surgery
Wen, Hui. Peking: 
Foreign Languages Press, 1972.


2:Song of the Motherland
Lebedev-Kumach, Vasily 
and Dunaevsky, Isaac. 
From: "Pesni Strany Sovetov,
" Turganov, Boris. 
Moscow: Khudozhestvennaia 
Literatura, 1940.


3:Peace - Freedom - Bread
German WWII leaflet. From: 
"Behind Enemy Lines," 
Boehm, Edward. Secaucus: 
The Wellfleet Press, 1989.


4:Papa, Hell Is So Hot; 
or, Her Last Drink
Fleming, Bona. Minneapolis: 
Osterhus Publishing House.


5:Pte. Tommie J. Peterson
German WWII leaflet. From: 
"Behind Enemy Lines," 
Boehm, Edward. Secaucus: 
The Wellfleet Press, 1989.


6:The Dance
Sonners, E.S, M.D. Minneapolis: 
Osterhus Publishing House.


7:Ice from Heaven; And 
Nothing Shall be Impossible
Minneapolis: Osterhus 
Publishing House.


8:Sam at Work; The Girl 
You Left Behind
German WWII leaflet. 
From: "Behind Enemy Lines," 
Boehm, Edward. Secaucus: 
The Wellfleet Press, 1989.


9:London Lullaby
Horlicks Tea WWII 
advertisement. From: 
"The Home Front; War Years 
in Britain 1939-1945," 
Briggs, Susan. London: 
George Weidenfeld and 
Nicolson Ltd., 1975


10:The Five heroes of 
Wolf's Teeth Mountain
Chi-kuei, Lou. Peking: 
Foreign Languages Press, 1977.


11:Rest in a Restless Age
W.B.Y. Minneapolis: 
Osterhus Publishing House.


12:Home of the Brave
Goodyear Aircraft 
1943 advertisement. 
From: "The Ads That 
Won The War," 
Nelson, Derek. 
Osceola: Motorbooks 
International, 1992


Thriving on our "familiarity with the subject" propagandists often associate their message with the functioning of our bodies, our needs and desires. POISON seeks to provoke a reflection on the process of presentation as well as perception of political and religious agendas. It is conceived from the belief that both: our immunity to coercive demagogy, and our ability to address the issues of social importance with strength and clarity depend on our understanding of propaganda techniques and principles. Please, explore the: 
piotr_szyhalski@mcad.edu
 GO THROUGH THE INWARD VESSELS OF THE SPLEEN