Product Placement

Dec 13 - January 17, 2020

In this late stage of capitalism, we surround ourselves with primarily massed produced objects. Barbara Kruger’s declaration, “I shop therefore I am” remains as timely today as it was in 1987. We buy to make ourselves more comfortable, more productive, more attentive, more better — and yet, when we buy we are aligning ourselves with the identities and practices of the manufacturers of those products. Product Placement reminds us of the human element in works reference to beloved brands. There is a deep sincerity and devotion in the reproduction or re-presentation of these forms. Socially we are more immediately accepted when we brand identify with the others amongst our group. This exhibition seeks to highlight the good and the complicated in brand identification. When you wear the Packer's logo, you tell the world how much you love the team, the game, and who you are as a fan. Yet, adorned in green and gold, you also wear the association to brain damage that is caused by sustained impact on the field. But of course, we nonetheless chant, “Go! Pack Go!” The separation from brand and implication of purchase can be found in almost everything we buy from Amazon’s high cost of convenience to Nike’s sweat-shops and the medley of landmines that float in between our passion for products and the effects of producing them.