These messages on mirrors were inspired by three sources—a quip from James Joyce's Stephen Hero, a message from "Lipstick Killer" Williams Heirens, and a hoax by John McCain volunteer Ashley Todd. Joyce's Stephen Hero sarcastically claims: If I get up every morning, go to the looking-glass and say to myself “You are the Son of God” at the end of twelve months I will want disciples. Murderer William Heirens wrote in lipstick on the wall of one of his crime scenes: For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more, I cannot control myself. Ashley Todd falsely claimed she had been mugged by an Obama supporter who carved a backward "B" into her cheek.

 

Max's interpretation moved to other sociopaths; dictators, cult leaders, and family annihilators. He asked, "What messages do they receive when they look into their mind's eye?"

A former Chicago firefighter, Max King Cap is an arts writer and visual artist who lives in Los Angeles. His work has been seen in galleries and museums in Europe and the US. Alongside MacArthur Fellow Claudia Rankine he co-edited, The Racial Imaginary. He is the recipient of Creative Capital and Artadia grants, and was most recently a finalist for the Andy Warhol Arts Writer Grant. He earned his MFA from the University of Chicago and his doctorate from USC.