Sometimes I feel as if I'm surrounded by messages that make me feel inadequate — not good enough, not working hard enough, not successful enough. Even when I try to ignore them, some sort of subliminal programming still lingers. In the end, it's impossible to isolate yourself from a system while being part of it.
This project is an attempt to use the utilitarian parts of that system to subvert its messaging and bring the power back to us. Shopping — both cardboard and labels — is chosen as the natural messenger, because shopping is both a necessity (groceries) and a coping mechanism (trying to make ourselves feel better by buying things).
Shopping as a hobby is widely condemned these days, but I think it's popular because it helps temporarily suppress feelings of inadequacy, loneliness and purposelessness, offering a respite from a frightening and hard-to-bear reality. However, it's clear this approach doesn't work: online shopping won't rid us of our sense of alienation, but it will reliably leave us with a pile of cardboard and plastic. The most fundamental type of shopping — groceries — can remind us of the cost of living, food waste, and sometimes even of "failure" when buying discounted food.
It's hard to escape these thoughts, as we're up against systems that are very efficient, while individual therapy is long and expensive.
But what if the same powerful consumer machine could be hijacked to deliver slightly different messages? Imagine discount sausages reminding you of your true worth, or humble vegetables celebrating the everyday gifts of life — all at no extra cost.
My project reuses labels, price tags and vintage imagery combined with acrylic paint, mounted on cardboard packaging, to create postcards and posters with a worn but recognisable feel.
I hope that from now on, every time you buy a parsnip or a discounted tin of soup, you'll smile a Mona Lisa smile — and maybe even come up with your own puns for other labels (send them to me!).
Ultimately, I hope this project reminds us all: we're too good to go to waste.
