Close before Striking

Upcycled from a 1950’s – 1980’s international matchbox collection, this sculpture depicts an image of  Clarence Hailey Long, the original “Marlboro Man”.   Long was photographed by Leonard McCombe in 1949 and that photo was the inspiration for Philip Morris cigarette’s advertising campaign. Many subsequent “Marlboro Man”actors died from lung cancer in later years.

I came up with the title after working countless hours with the matchboxes, most of which had the warning “close before striking” to prevent burns and fires. To me it served as a metaphor for tobacco companies going behind closed doors to make their products more addictive and then hitting the user of their products with a deadly blow to their health.

The piece serves as a warning to would-be smokers. Each large square represents thousands of people who have died as a result of smoking related illnesses.

Large squares = 250,000 people
Medium squares = 100,000 people
Small squares = 50,000 people
Total = more than 90 million people who have died!

This piece was shown at the 2012 “ReVision – The Art of Recycling” Art Show at Granville Island in Vancouver.

The finished multi-dimensional piece measures 38″ x 48″ and is still available for sale. Here is a close-up of the mouth and cigarette area.