This project examines the relationship between hyper consumerism and the materialistic nature of the modern world in the times of crises by analyzing these waste materials. I emphasize the shallowness of the modern consumer-driven society by juxtaposing contrasting statements. I challenge the notion of identity construction through acts of consumer-driven minds of modern society. What I want to underline with this case study was the class blindness and consumerist rituals of the donor class, which in this case was middle and upper middle class people living in Turkey, and the relationship between them and the hyper consumerist rituals of modern day.
DEFINING & IDEA PROCESS
I started with defining waste. From my personal understanding, waste is an unnecessary and undesirable output from any system comprising resources without empathy. I took a personal and yet a political stance towards the subject as I always do in my artwork and I used this project to reflect on a recent event. I was quite shocked after the earthquake that took place in the East of Turkey and Syria. Even though I am not living in the earthquake area personally and I don't know anyone that was directly affected by the earthquake, I was devastated by this disaster.
I started with defining waste. From my personal understanding, waste is an unnecessary and undesirable output from any system comprising resources without empathy. I took a personal and yet a political stance towards the subject as I always do in my artwork and I used this project to reflect on a recent event. I was quite shocked after the earthquake that took place in the East of Turkey and Syria. Even though I am not living in the earthquake area personally and I don't know anyone that was directly affected by the earthquake, I was devastated by this disaster.
CONCEPT
I used the waste materials in my collage cyanotype Beton altında hayal kurabilir misin* (dare to dream under concrete) as a reflection upon the donated waste materials that I collected. I analyzed why these materials were in the donation boxes and did my research and thinking upon it.
I used the waste materials in my collage cyanotype Beton altında hayal kurabilir misin* (dare to dream under concrete) as a reflection upon the donated waste materials that I collected. I analyzed why these materials were in the donation boxes and did my research and thinking upon it.
PLANNING & COLLECTING
I was volunteering in my city to collect supplies to select and eliminate the proper goods to send to the earthquake victims. Unfortunately, I encountered too many wasteful donations such as wedding dresses, heels, wigs, makeup and cosmetics such as fake lashes and so many other unwanted products that weren’t going to help victims at any level. The operations for helping the victims are still going on, and as a part of this project I went to another center of donations and worked there for a weekend to collect these waste materials I used in my artwork.
EVER-INCREASING CONSUMERISM, COMMODIFICATION & CLASS BLINDNESS
I thought to myself how one can be so out of touch with reality and send such things to people literally dying because of hypothermia and hunger, or being stuck under the rubble for days. I thought about what these people were thinking while donating their waste. How can a person be so blind during the biggest disaster of their own country?
Ever-increasing consumerism on one hand, these people were donating their “waste” under the guise of helping others and being socially conscious. I wanted to explore the relationship between consumerism and the materialistic nature of the modern world in the times of crises. In the nature of commodification, these people were out of touch with reality as a result of their consumerist rituals, and habits and could not empathize with the victims of disaster. Also as a result of the class blindness.
INSPIRATION
I want to reference Barbara Kruger’s iconic “I shop therefore I am” artwork here. This catchy re-phrasing of the philosophical quote by Descartes, implies how consumerist society is fueled by desire and instant gratification. Here, Kruger uses her own experi- ence of working with advertising, in order to create an advertising poster that critiques society's acceptance of consumerism. And here, I use my own observations and experiences to take a political stance in this case.
Kruger tries to imply with “I shop therefore I am” that the public is no longer defined by what it thinks, but rather by what they own. During the 1980s, society witnessed the “economic potential of working people and broadening markets, widening the avail- ability of credit and stimulating homeownership and share owner- ship,” a change that seriously impacted how people consumed.