Reprinted From The San Francisco Examiner, June 14, 1994 STAMPS FOR ART'S SAKE By David Bonetti (San Francisco Examiner Art Critic) While Watts' Fluxstamps are indifferently printed, F.I.R.E.'s stamps are so close to the real thing that at first you don't notice any difference, but what a difference there is! F.I.R.E. commemorates such unlikely heroes as Dr. Kevorkian, Amy Fisher, Abbie Hoffman and Tonya Harding. Its yellow and gold Michael Jackson commemorative uses the Jeff Koons ceramic sculpture of the pop star with his chimp from the SFMOMA collection. Such stamps are fun, but also question a society value. Under no circumstances would an Amy Fisher or Tonya Harding be commemorated but why not a Michael Jackson - or a Jeff Koons for that matter? At a more pointedly political level, F.I.R.E. overturns the patriotic clichés that appear on all nations' stamps. A pink rose is accompanied by the words "Kill" and "Hate". A bomb bursting in air celebrates "War" rather than peace. An image of the billowing American flag shows it aflame. (back to article listings)