Consumerism

Consumerism in art is based on the idea that the ownership of goods as a reflection of status and self-identity.

Tim Noble and Sue Webster: Dirty White Trash

To make this piece, the artists saved six months worth of their rubbish to highlight the problems with the 'out of sight, out of mind' approach to waste management. At first glance, it looks just like a pile of discarded rubbish with seagulls scavenging through it, but only when the light is turned on, you can see the image it creates. 

The image created through the silhouette is a self portrait of the artists, the reason and accumulators of all this rubbish. It urges the viewer to be mindful of their own waste production and management, whilst saying a little light-hearted with the images created through them. 

Vanessa Beecroft: VB67

Beecroft's performance pieces, which have been ongoing for over 25 years, 'highlight the tensions between nakedness and clothing, constraint and freedom, the collective and the individual, and human strength and weakness'. 

I like this approach as the very essence of the clothing industry is not very consumer based, instead it favours the pockets of the designers and the brands. Beecroft may not be suggesting that we start to walk the streets naked, but we should be confident enough to stand up for ourselves and what we need and want as the consumer. It is this fact that makes me classify Beecroft's performance pieces as being based on 'consumerism', and the problems it harbours and creates.