Yes Men open exhibition in Liverpool as part of Abandon Normal Devices festival

Sep 24 2009 Flintshire Chronicle

BEFORE a mutual friend introduced them in the mid-90s, the Yes Men were busy making mischief in their own individual ways.

But together, Mike Bonanno and Andy Bichlbaum have been a tour de force, practising what they call “identity correction” – basically, pretending to be spokespeople from major corporations and making statements the organisations would do almost anything to avoid.

It all began when they created a fake World Trade Organisation website that received such high internet search engine rankings that people would visit it instead of the real thing.

“Eventually we figured out these people who were inviting us to speak at conferences might be happy to receive us,” recalls Bonanno, who is visiting Liverpool later this month for the Yes Men’s exhibition FACT, part of the Abandon Normal Devices festival.

“Neither of us could really act, but the nice thing about doing this is, if someone thinks you’re somebody, there is no suspension of disbelief necessary.”

The exhibition at FACT, which opened yesterday, will be the duo’s first in the UK and will feature what Bonanno describes as the “relics” of their pranks.