Erin Horesh
As I began the process of creating a series of work, I found myself more Or less perplexed by my subject matter rather than educated by it. Throughout my high school experience, I have taken every opportunity of independent work and focused it on enriching my knowledge of the philosophy addressing our society’s vast social norms and how we view ourselves. Naturally, this led me to explore notions of materialism, consumer culture, narcissism, and a plethora of other philosophies and theories which influence each other in a negative and cyclical manner when it comes to our socio-political understanding. Being able to explore these notions through visual means over the last two years allowed for the overwhelming complexity of these topics to establish a deeper grasp of the social dynamics which make up our interpersonal relationships, and how they are impacted by corrupted ideas of self that we are inadvertently taught as young people.
Inspired by socio-political artists like Stanley Donwood, Jenny Holzer, and Natalia L.L, I was most interested in exploring materialism and consumer culture and how the two impact self-perception in the context of others. This was primarily articulated through the use of seemingly manufactured motifs (identical clay faces which I had made in a mold), as well as actually manufactured motifs (mass-produced stickers). For instance, the use of the identical clay faces throughout the series is meant to convey an overall sense of the manufactured “personality” that is advertised and longed for in our society. The more materialistic you are-the more invested in class symbols and hallmarks worth- the closer you become to the “perfect being”.This results in the hollowness of personality, creating nothing more than manufactured citizens, paying their way to apparent worthiness. Similarly, the use of manufactured media such as stickers, CDs, and newspaper articles are generally used throughout the series to cultivate the urge for the viewer to question what beauty they strangely find in the materialism of an over-manufactured lifestyle. This being said, the use of body imagery as a whole is meant to leave the viewer feeling somewhat exposed. However they internalize this exposure is entirely up to them, but regardless they are meant to question the nature of our flawed view of perfection and its connection to consumerism This theme draws concise attention to the detriments that our indulgences have placed upon us and show leave the culprits- most all of us- vulnerable to a mess they may or may not feel partly responsible for.