Made in America (2021) is a photographic commentary on the privileged unconscious within people in a capitalistic society. The works in the series formulate a discourse through the construction of objects and photographic strategies. The art here is the uncovering of the privileged unconscious, which we deny the existence of, forced to use for the interpretation of the series. The concept developed from my experience seeing the different standards of life living across countries at different socio-economic levels. The project looks back on the - now deemed dated - a utopia that German art historian Benjamin Buchloh formulates in Formalism and Historicity (1977): an imagined world in which capitalism has been overthrown.
Recognizable household and consumer items are selected to construct the objects. The photographic medium allows the subject to be isolated, stripped of its original function, and recontextualized under personal experiences and biases, allowing each viewer to have their own unique experience. Repetition, positioning, deterioration, construction, and title guide the viewers’ experience. Once the mental image is conceptualized, the discourse is clear; the objects appear deceivingly beautiful until viewers realize the privileged unconscious used to complete the image unveils its implications.
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