American Identity and the Consumerist Condition

May, 2014

BFA Thesis

Introduction

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

― Oscar Wilde

Long ago, the planet Earth started vibrating with the first signs of life. It must have been a beautiful land, undisturbed and ideal for the creatures that were about to evolve through millions of years. Many organisms lived and others died through natural selection, but those that persisted led to the creatures that we know today as humans.

Human beings differ from other species. They walk upright on two feet, have an abstract thinking process, a sense of self and a perception of past, present and future. Complex use of tools and language evolved, together with societies and tribes, belief systems, rituals, art, etc. The deep self-awareness experienced by humans results in individual personalities and social/cultural identity. Ironically, this conception of self can get lost among darker aspects of human desires; addictions, materialistic tendencies, instant reward systems, power and greed.

My work focuses on the identity of people in the United States, hereafter referred to as Americans. I speak of the present day group mentality of the average consumerist, whose identity relies on the comforts and convenience that this country brings to the people.  My art reflects the anxiety, confusion and identity crisis of those who have fallen victim to the superficial world of material happiness. Some of my illustrative work covers the delusional state of mind of what resembles to be humanoid creatures, but my main projects are a series of photographs that merge the human identity with the advertisement world.  Human Object (figure 5.1,5.2,5.3) and Idée Fixe (figure 7) are two major photography projects that reflect on the identity loss due to the materialistic priorities of this society and the merging of animate and inanimate characteristics.

I break up this essay into two sections: the physical and the mental. Human identity is the body and mind together, but each one needs to be understood separately in relation to each other. While the human brain has undergone much advancement through evolution, there are many aspects of its design still susceptible to consumerist lures. Further, unattainable standards of body image leave a void that is easily capitalized upon for others’ profit. The problem in the United States is that our bodies are adapting to more pollution and to a modified diet and our brains are becoming addicted to what the media advertises. Material objects are the new form of happiness, replacing the quality of life people once experienced. Our identity is reflected in the surroundings we try to create for ourselves that are more toxic, synthetic, and superficial than the natural world in which we once lived.

My aim is to show the true perspective on the identity crisis this nation is facing due to the images we have been fed for so long. I wish to visualize the present day American people as faceless and empty creatures, presented in a state of limbo. Therefore I want to facilitate these ends by depicting exaggerated bodies and faces, distorted realities and the lack of humanity in a world of advertisements.  

In my artwork, I imagine people to be objects: puppets that have been programmed and reprogrammed to think, act, and look a certain way. I merge the humans’ physical bodies with the objects that so many obsess over. Deformities, mutations and intertwining the animate with inanimate has been a continuous theme in my art. I want my art to make the audience question their pre-conceived notions of human identity.

__________________________________

You can view the full 18 page thesis below!

Kalina_BFAthesis.pdf

Download PDF • 30.48MB