Advanced Fiber Studio (Highlights)
There are no neutral decisions. The objects we buy or collect are part of a self-construction, a search for a self-identity. Objects communicate who we are, or at least who we aspire to be. We consume these objects at our discretion because of real or imagined needs, but we are constantly consuming images in a much less conscious way through television, magazines, shopping venues and advertising in public space. They are all virtually seamless experiences in which the human effort of production is virtually invisible. These images help form and inform our material aspirations. Most of us are so saturated by the image stream we may not even see what we are watching; ignoring the presence of those things that contribute significantly to our popular knowledge base.
It is difficult to engage critically in everyday existence. I am trying to begin by looking critically at what I consume. How am I participating in consumer culture? How do the decisions I make reflect who I hope to be? Which imaginary needs do I subscribe to and which do I resist? I am questioning my role in consumer society by carefully considering my own purchases and the way in which media and advertising influence how I assess value. By inserting my hand through editing image sources (video or magazine) or creating new objects based on consumables from my own life, I aim to draw critical attention to these images I consume. The displacement of these consumables from their usual context allows the viewer the perspective outside the everyday to critically consider their own accepted associations and values