Some people are idiots. We just spent half an hour of our lives getting a good example of the sheer stupidity of peeps trying to do illegal things. Specifically, we're talking about artist Taryn Simon's new exhibition and book, "Contraband," featuring over 1,075 photos of items taken from passengers or mail entering the US at JFK. There's deer penises, fake Louis Vuitton bags, toothpaste made from cows, and lots of corpses of animals (seriously, what's with those dead Guinea Pigs?) Take some time off from your Monday to check out a selection of the illicit trafficking that'll make you feel a lot better about your own life. We have a hard time trying to imagine just who thought that smuggling fake viagra in a box labeled "USA American Visagra."
Contraband opens September 30 at Lever House,
390 Park Avenue (between 53rd and 54th streets); 212-888-2700; New York; September 24, Gagosian Gallery, 456 North Camden Drive (between Brighton Way and South Santa Monica Boulevard); 310-271-9400
(New York Times Magazine)