The Board Game Operation Turns Into Full Scale Intimacy

Marijn Kruijff
23 september 2020

The artist Jeff Faerber had an unplanned break but returned with a new exciting shunga piece…

“The anatomy lesson initially started with the medical residents reviewing a schematic to glean basic structural knowledge, but then things escalated to a more hands-on exploration using full-scale forms with deft hand/eye coordination and delicate fine motor skills for the buzzing, electric sensations of delight.” (August -September 2020)

Artist’s Remarks on the Painting:

“The board game Operation * is filled with thoughts of a different era, of childhood and simple pleasures. I liked the idea of people with advanced medical knowledge playing the game and probing the random orifices planting the seeds for probing more. As with some past pieces, I used origami paper for the robes and patterned envelopes for the trim.” (Jeff Faerber)

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*Operation is a dexterity game in which you must extract silly body parts from a hapless patient. It was introduced in 1965 by Hasbro and designed by John Spinello, and is a variation on the archaic electrified wire loop game favored at theme parks. It consists of an “operating table”, imprinted with a clownish likeness of a patient (nicknamed “Cavity Sam”) with a large red lightbulb for his nose.