Artwork sparks free speech debate
K.C.Meyers, Cape Cod Times (front page), December 10, 2016
PROVINCETOWN - A Provincetown artist known for his provocative works has once again drawn ire, this time with a piece titled "Miami Beige - island of abandoned luxury."
Jay Critchley's artwork pokes fun at Florida Gov. Rick Scott for his stance on climate change, despite Florida's extreme vulnerability to sea level rise. Florida has six of the 10 U.S. cities most susceptible to storm surge, according to a 2016 report from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm.
Critchley, whose art often takes the form of company names, marketing slogans, and products that make a political point, used Florida's sate seal inside the O in the words "Mobil Warming," the name of his mock corporation that is selling the remains of Miami Beach as an island resort destination.
Scott's administration has objected to Critchley's inclusion of the seal in the art piece. Use of the state seal requires a permit, according to Florida law.
"Governor Scott and his fellow Republicans deny climate change science," Critchley wrote in a prepared statement. "Yet Florida is feeling the severe impact of sea level rise and storms threaten to wipe away popular tourist destinations along the coast."
The brouhaha harks back to 1990 when Critchley applied for a trademark to use the image of the American flag on the unfurled condom logo for his "Old Glory Condom Corporation." Under the slogan "worn with pride countrywide,"
Critchley's condoms used the flag to illustrate that fighting AIDS and promoting public health was just as patriotic as using the flag to rally the nation for war, he said.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant the trademark because it "was immoral and scandalous to associate the flag with sex," Critchley said.
Critchley won his trademark on appeal with the help of Center for Constitutional Rights attorney David Cole, who is now the ACLU's national legal director.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush failed to respond quickly to AIDS, Critchley said, and this week,
President-elect Donald Trump interviewed ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. "It's not even absurd anymore - it's bad," Critchley said.
In his latest artwork, he depicts, "Miami Beige - island of abandoned luxury," on what remains of Miami Beach, a small barrier beach that has been named among the most vulnerable to property loss due to sea level rise in the world.
In Critchley's multimedia presentation, residences start at $22.5 million and the privileged can enjoy "indoor beaches" in "border-secure, sustainable island living with all the comforts you deserve." The names of the resort facilities add a layer of political satire. They include the Meltdown Mall, and the Carbon Kindness Golf Club.
The leaders of Florida should have the foresight to imagine something like the "island of abandoned luxury" themselves, Critchley said.
The Florida Department of State communications director Meredith Beatrice did not respond to requests for Scott's position on the man-made contributions to climate change.
But Scott received national press attention last year when the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting broke a story quoting numerous former Florida Department of Environmental Protection employees who said they had been told by Scott's administration to avoid certain words. Verboten phrases included "climate change" and "global warming." Scott has denied allegations that his administration banned use of those terms.
Critchley created the "Miami Beige" presentation in the spring and sent it to officials in South Florida, he said.
In August, Critchley received a letter from the Florida Department of State stating that he could not use the Great Seal of the State of Florida without a permit.
"Therefore, please immediately cease and desist from unauthorized use and reproduction," it stated.
Upon the recommendation of the National Coalition Against Censorship, Critchley got his own lawyer, Lawrence Walters, of the Walters Law Group of Florida. Walters said he took the case pro bono.
Walters wrote to Adam Tanenbaum, general counsel for the Florida Department of State, on Nov. 3 stating that Critchley's use of the seal is freedom of speech protected under the First Amendment.
Walters cited several cases in the letter, including Texas v. Johnson, the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court finding that burning the flag was protected by the First Amendment.
"Laws which impose an unconstitutional permitting scheme, such as those at issue here, may be disregarded with impunity," Walters wrote.
He said he has not heard back from Tanenbaum.
- Follow K.C. Myers on Twitter: @kcmyerscct.
K.C.Meyers, Cape Cod Times (front page), December 10, 2016
PROVINCETOWN - A Provincetown artist known for his provocative works has once again drawn ire, this time with a piece titled "Miami Beige - island of abandoned luxury."
Jay Critchley's artwork pokes fun at Florida Gov. Rick Scott for his stance on climate change, despite Florida's extreme vulnerability to sea level rise. Florida has six of the 10 U.S. cities most susceptible to storm surge, according to a 2016 report from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm.
Critchley, whose art often takes the form of company names, marketing slogans, and products that make a political point, used Florida's sate seal inside the O in the words "Mobil Warming," the name of his mock corporation that is selling the remains of Miami Beach as an island resort destination.
Scott's administration has objected to Critchley's inclusion of the seal in the art piece. Use of the state seal requires a permit, according to Florida law.
"Governor Scott and his fellow Republicans deny climate change science," Critchley wrote in a prepared statement. "Yet Florida is feeling the severe impact of sea level rise and storms threaten to wipe away popular tourist destinations along the coast."
The brouhaha harks back to 1990 when Critchley applied for a trademark to use the image of the American flag on the unfurled condom logo for his "Old Glory Condom Corporation." Under the slogan "worn with pride countrywide,"
Critchley's condoms used the flag to illustrate that fighting AIDS and promoting public health was just as patriotic as using the flag to rally the nation for war, he said.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to grant the trademark because it "was immoral and scandalous to associate the flag with sex," Critchley said.
Critchley won his trademark on appeal with the help of Center for Constitutional Rights attorney David Cole, who is now the ACLU's national legal director.
In 1990, President George H.W. Bush failed to respond quickly to AIDS, Critchley said, and this week,
President-elect Donald Trump interviewed ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. "It's not even absurd anymore - it's bad," Critchley said.
In his latest artwork, he depicts, "Miami Beige - island of abandoned luxury," on what remains of Miami Beach, a small barrier beach that has been named among the most vulnerable to property loss due to sea level rise in the world.
In Critchley's multimedia presentation, residences start at $22.5 million and the privileged can enjoy "indoor beaches" in "border-secure, sustainable island living with all the comforts you deserve." The names of the resort facilities add a layer of political satire. They include the Meltdown Mall, and the Carbon Kindness Golf Club.
The leaders of Florida should have the foresight to imagine something like the "island of abandoned luxury" themselves, Critchley said.
The Florida Department of State communications director Meredith Beatrice did not respond to requests for Scott's position on the man-made contributions to climate change.
But Scott received national press attention last year when the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting broke a story quoting numerous former Florida Department of Environmental Protection employees who said they had been told by Scott's administration to avoid certain words. Verboten phrases included "climate change" and "global warming." Scott has denied allegations that his administration banned use of those terms.
Critchley created the "Miami Beige" presentation in the spring and sent it to officials in South Florida, he said.
In August, Critchley received a letter from the Florida Department of State stating that he could not use the Great Seal of the State of Florida without a permit.
"Therefore, please immediately cease and desist from unauthorized use and reproduction," it stated.
Upon the recommendation of the National Coalition Against Censorship, Critchley got his own lawyer, Lawrence Walters, of the Walters Law Group of Florida. Walters said he took the case pro bono.
Walters wrote to Adam Tanenbaum, general counsel for the Florida Department of State, on Nov. 3 stating that Critchley's use of the seal is freedom of speech protected under the First Amendment.
Walters cited several cases in the letter, including Texas v. Johnson, the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court finding that burning the flag was protected by the First Amendment.
"Laws which impose an unconstitutional permitting scheme, such as those at issue here, may be disregarded with impunity," Walters wrote.
He said he has not heard back from Tanenbaum.
- Follow K.C. Myers on Twitter: @kcmyerscct.