Defend Your Taste Cutout cutup Derek Erdman

Welcome to Defend Your Taste, wherein Chicago's cultural curators go to bat for the art they love. Next up: local artist Derek Erdman, who hocked his wares at last weekend’s Pitchfork Music Festival. While his paintings were crowd-pleasers, the real draw at his booth was the photo cutout where attendees could pose as Michael Jackson’s doctor. Given the shadiness behind the King of Pop’s medical history and recent death, The A.V. Club cornered Erdman to probe the artist’s standards, and gauge what’s too soon.

The A.V. Club: So, Michael Jackson’s doctor? What’s your inspiration? Why this project?

Derek Erdman: It’s a good way to get closer to Michael Jackson now that he’s gone.

AVC: You don’t think it’s offensive or too soon?

DE: No. I’ve repeatedly examined the different points that could be conveyed. None of them are in bad taste. For one, Michael Jackson was a confirmed baby dangler. He had dangled babies. Second, he had a doctor, just like many of us. If you’re his doctor, what bad could be taken from it?

AVC: What kind of response have you been getting?

DE: The response has been extremely overwhelming when I’m not charging a dollar. When I am charging a dollar, it’s just slightly overwhelming. A number of people have said it’s too soon, and were extremely angry, but most people just want to be a part of the art. Someone sat me down this morning for an hour to talk about the Jackson 5. I found out that contrary to what the Internet says, the original name of the band was not Ripples And Waves. I did learn that Tito was born with both male and female genitalia, and that I find LaToya attractive. I don’t know why that is, though.

AVC: Why a cutout?

DE: The idea came from the City Museum in St. Louis, which has a whole room filled with photo cutouts you can pose in. They’re pretty standard, though. I realized that it would be more interesting to do them about world events. The first one I made was about [United] Flight 93 — the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11. It’s a guy with a box cutter saying “Allah Akbar,” and another person saying, “No! Let’s Roll!” I just think it’s more interesting to do these about iconic events like the Kent State killings from 1970, or the Manson family murders. They’re not celebrating good events. I don’t want to do one about the World Series. I’d prefer to make one where you get to be Steve Bartman.

AVC: Has this made you think about your own version of the Neverland Ranch?

DE: I’m pretty sure it would be called “Alwaysland,” and all lines would be blurred. If you thought Neverland was inappropriate, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.