« Here is the prize for the most curious work of art », a funny trophy awarded during the main international fair of Mexican modern and contemporary art. Zona Maco is the name of the biggest fair in Latin America. At the start of 2024, it is through my wanderings on the Internet that the AI sends me this notification: “This undrinkable can will make Coke falter ". A catchy title, neither one nor two, I click.
And everything will come together. My curiosity leads me on the trail of this “ Undrinkable can », the undrinkable can. Undrinkable because sealed. Sealed on both sides because mysterious artists have been there.
Exhibited in a most classic distributor, in the middle of this contemporary art fair in Mexico, this object is now the stuff of all fantasies. The artist collective “QSTNMRK? », behind this idea, absolutely does not wish to reveal his identity. Particularly intrigued, I embarked on several days of research. The first objective, to know what is hidden behind this funny name. It's simple: QSTN like "Question", MRK like "Mark". Question Mark, “ interrogation point ». I am no further along.
At the end of February, a few days after Zona Maco closed, I led the hunt for these troublemakers as creative as Banksy but not as noisy as Daft Punk. Two other artists whose leitmotif seems close to the famous “ live happy, live hidden ". Let's hope there's actually a bunch of artists behind QSTN MRK? and not a new kind of artificial intelligence! In the era of Chat GPT, I distrust everything.
Their website undrinkablecan.com leaves no information on their existence, nor on their number or their origin. So I called the fair organization to find out who could have left this mysterious art object with them. Luckily, he's not just an average delivery guy.
During this ten-minute telephone interview, in English, I learned that this distributor does allow you to buy cans. Cans that are impossible to open, yes, but cans nonetheless. Above, not the Coca-Cola logo, but that of a “ fuck » nicely redesigned. An almost aesthetic middle finger, yes. It’s art, it seems! The first can purchased cost its lucky owner 1 euro. The second, 2 euros. And so on. First come, first served. You can even see where sales are going via the artist collective's website. The goal ? Obtain funds to launch a rapid action on the stock market and create a movement on Coca-Cola stock! Cheeky. I can't believe it.
The Zona Maco organization meets me: the Furiosa gallery, based in Mexico, is responsible for the arrival of this very special work. I feel like I'm already getting closer to the end of my investigation! Quickly done well done. However, I am not at the end of my troubles. After several telephone attempts, it’s almost a return to square one: “ It's a collective of artists from all over the world, they want to remain secret, I can't tell you more because I don't know more. »
Everything falls apart. I already thought I was at the heart of a fantastic affair, a sort of mix between a Tintin reporter album and an episode of Columbo. Missed. So I think I'll leave it there, for lack of means to find out more. The work of art has had some followers, with several articles talking about the subject in America. We therefore learn that these artists of a new genre, close to the satirical universe of Deadpool, “ as committed as Sea Shepherd or Greenpeace », wish to question major social issues through several launches of this type each year.
During my research, I discovered that Mexico was hit hard by the activities of the global soda giant. In the early 2000s, the former CEO of Coca-Cola Mexico, Vicente Fox, became President of the country. Almost immediately, the brand obtained most of the water concessions in various regions. Extracting millions of liters every day. Disaster: the country is experiencing a water shortage, the inhabitants are suffering. Coke becomes more affordable than drinking water!
In Chiapas, the state of Mexico where the poverty rate is the highest, there is a sad record: it is the region in the world where people drink the most Coca-Cola, " average consumption per person is five times higher than the rest of Mexico and 32 times higher than the world average ”, according to the National Council of Science and Technology (Mexico). Totally crazy figure: the average consumption of this soda would be 2 liters per day per person in this country.
Sugar kills, so does lack of water.
There, Coca-Cola is frantically pumping the water tables, making access to drinking water difficult. The inhabitants fall back on the sweet drink. Shortage of drinking water, contaminated water and no treatment put in place, here is the sad story.
Mexico remains to this day the leading Coca-Cola consumer country in the world and represents more than 40% of the brand's sales on the Latin American continent.. Sugar kills, so does lack of water. Sugar is also responsible for more than 3 million deaths worldwide, directly or indirectly. A terrible addiction. This drug is wreaking havoc, the QSTNMARK collective? tries to move the lines.
A few days later: a UPS deliveryman rings my doorbell. A “fragile” package. I don't expect anything. I don't expect anything. I open meticulously. A red and white box. The famous can installed in a transparent case! A sachet of 39 grams of sugar accompanies this one. This is to be poured on to make the work of art yourself. A protest, homemade.
Inside, a kind message invites me to better understand the project of these top secret artists. The same day, everything goes wrong: I am contacted by an anonymous account on the social network. Someone wants to contact me. I piqued their curiosity. I suggest a video. They give me a simple audio call. I am dealing with a man, dynamic voice, willingly friendly. Difficult to give an age or something else without falling into interpretation. It's up to me to pull the worms out of him. Complicated mission.
After a few minutes of getting to know each other, I begin to sympathize with this Frenchman, without any particular accent. He explains to me that he works all over the world. It's his story, no one has to believe it.
« Shake up Coca-Cola on the stock market »
Selon's, Question Mark is a group of half a dozen artists from different professions. Half of my questions come to a stop: “I can’t answer that.” They would live in France, but also in Japan or even in New York in the United States. My deductions force me to believe that they work in digital marketing, advertising or graphic design. Maybe comedians, dancers, or successful entrepreneurs. Their collective seems complementary, each brings their talents, they regularly produce videotapes together to “ brainstorm ».
When I ask him what they are going to do with all this money collected following the sale of these " undrinkable cans », my interlocutor takes a very serious look: “ At the end of the sale, 100% of the profits will be invested in an operation, what we call a short, in order to shake up Coca-Cola on the stock market, mark the occasion. An action made public with the aim of creating a movement. A wave, a first alert. And if possible lower the action. » Beware of the reaction from Wall Street. “ If it works as well as expected, all profits will be donated to three NGOs based in Chiapas »
The Undrinkable Can and its specific distributor must then be taken to travel the world. The presence of this “work” in Mexico was only the first stone. As I write these lines, discussions have even begun with several major Parisian museums. But also in Berlin, London, Madrid and Rome.
Their message must travel, their message must gain strength. Besides, if you read the back of the can carefully - which no one usually does, it's too anxiety-provoking - you won't discover the traditional nutritional value table. Instead, they wrote strong messages: “ Every day, Coca-Cola sells 2 billion bottles. Every year, 400 billion liters of water are used and 5 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted. ».
Just below, the collective specifies that with “ one can per day, +26% risk of type 2 diabetes, +87% risk of pancreatic cancer, +26% risk of kidney disease, +60% risk of becoming obese ”, and highlight of the show, “ tooth decay guaranteed after ten years » ! Not enough to make you want to unseal the can...
Coca, symbol of all the excesses of excessive capitalism of the last 40 years? Ecological disaster and health disaster. Their action is enough to deeply annoy the soda giant. This is perhaps why this collective of artists prefers to remain completely anonymous…
