INDIVIDUALISM VS. MASS PRODUCTION

As the final task for my IB Higher level Visual Arts course, I had to choose a theme and curate an exhibition. My theme was Massproduction vs. Individualism. Here I have highlighted and shown my favourite pieces, with the full artist statement and piece descriptions following.

rubber ducks (2016)

screen print on paper, self made
A/P & 30m roll
30 x 21 cm & 3000 x 50 cm

This artwork has the mission to engage the viewer and question what value they place on how the art is presented to them. By taking the same paper, the same ink and the same silk screen, the art pieces are actually made of the exact same components. As the viewer do you value more the framed and signed print, or the wallpaper-like print?

book (2016)

water colours on book, self made using found object
203 pages
200 x 250 cm

The book is an art piece of transformation. As a dyslexic, and a person who is not very interested in reading, my perception of books is different. A book is seen as a piece of art in the literary sense, but I also want to show that it can be something unique and visually pleasing. Hanging it up in the right order allows the original purpose of the book to come across in conjunction with my own artistic expression.

寿司 sushi (2016)

screen print on paper, self made
A/P & series of 12
44 x 64 cm

Sushi as food is not just very visually pleasing, but is also widely recognised. By ordering tuna sushi you always know what you will get. But in reality, every piece of sushi is its unique product even though we see it as a mass-produced food item. These 12-tinted silkscreen prints should remind you of a menu or a poster you would see before ordering this unique food.

fresh meat (2017)

tattoo on leg of pig, self made using found object
25 x 33 x 6 cm

Products nowadays are so standardised and labeled that you will almost never find anything without a label, symbol or any other markings on it. Something natural and individual like a fresh piece of meat does not have a label directly on it. With this art piece I want to show that even a piece of meat will be sooner or later unavoidably be labelled and processed.

the edition (2017)

print on paper, self made
book series of 25
15 x 10 cm

I produced this booklet so that every member of the audience can leave the space with a mass-produced piece of artwork. Any viewer can take one of the booklets, for free, in which the last page is also an original screen print, and also accounts as the last art piece in the exhibition. The screen print of a goldfish holds value to a certain few.

UNTITLED (2018)

screenprint on 100 year old book
series of 12
740mm x 257mm

UNTITLED is a series of almost identical screen prints, printed on pages of a 1919 German book. At that time the printing methods were different – 4 consecutive pages were printed, folded and bound into a book, after which the edges of the pages were cut to reveal the text on the pages hidden within the folds. In this case, the edges were never cut, leading to this book never being read. I discovered this book the same day I went to the MET in NYC to see the Hokusai wave, the famous woodblock print which is so light sensitive that it is only on display every five years.
This work was intentionally printed on the inside, never-seen pages of a book, to emphasize the rarely viewable original. Both the book and the block print have crossed the ocean to reach NYC, one from the east and one from the west. Because of the original folds in the pages of the book, it is possible to display this work open to the public, or closed, protected, and hidden from view.
The pages of the book are obviously dissimilar, so the series consists of 12 slightly different prints, and two additional A/Ps.

This piece was not part of the Exhibition.