Hollow Heroes
Muffler Men, as they are known in travel parlance, are a series of fiberglass figures made in the 1960s and 1970s that cast iconic American folk heroes as business mascots. The mold was made to have interchangeable parts so that the head, the arms, and the hands could portray different characters and advertise various roadside services. These figures have held axes, mufflers, rifles, and rockets to help attract motorists with all-American advertising audacity. Such tall figures were needed because the interstate highway system removed travelers from the older state routes.
"Chief Pontiac" is based on an interchangeable fiberglass muffler-man model from the 1950s referencing an Ottawa war chief named Obwandiyag from the 1700s who fought the British. His image was used to attract motorists to the now defunct Pontiac brand. Though he was elevated alongside American folk heroes such as Paul Bunyan, literally built from the same mold, he was also mythologized into a historical trope about Native Americans. The cultural layers are deep and twisted in these fiberglass shells. They are our Hollow Heroes.
@ Specto in Perspectives: AMERICA (2019)
Limited Edition large-format prints available on request.
Muffler Men, as they are known in travel parlance, are a series of fiberglass figures made in the 1960s and 1970s that cast iconic American folk heroes as business mascots. The mold was made to have interchangeable parts so that the head, the arms, and the hands could portray different characters and advertise various roadside services. Over time, the novelty wore off and many degraded in back lots or junkyards. Recently, a renaissance of sorts has pulled the figures from their obscurity and placed them back into use as throw-back signage, sports mascots, and museum displays. Yet, they are still hollow shells, filled only with the values we place on their mythologies.
Each instance of "The Big Indian" takes on its own flavor, despite originating from the same fiberglass mold. "Chief Pontiac" is based on an interchangeable fiberglass muffler-man model from the 1950s referencing an Ottawa war chief named Obwandiyag from the 1700s who fought the British. His image was used to attract motorists to the now defunct Pontiac brand. His image is derived from a kind-of misguided American hero canon.
