an immersive exhibition + curation of work playing to the unconscious mind
an exploration of what lies at the root of disharmony. It’s obvious and simplistic to look out at our world and say, we over-consume material goods, many of us are unhappy, we’re abusing our planet, and so on. While these statements are true, where do they stem from? What is at the root of our sugar-coated consumption?
The work depicts an exploration of self confrontation.
Consumption aims to engage the undertones of a much broader picture. In our modern world, we can easily identify our consumption; we can see the ruin, feel the chaos, we can hear the dissonance. We are motivated to push boundaries and generate a pause; because we believe awareness is the most vital component for collective change.
formatted through the exploration of the ‘self’—
to expose the deconstruction of what makes us who we are- the labels and roles we take on, the way our bodies carry trauma and experiences, incessant inner chatter and compulsive thinking, limited beliefs based on stories we’ve been told.
All of these have a subconscious effect on how we show up in the world. From the outset of the exhibition viewers were challenged to examine these stories by tapping into their sensory functions - beginning with the handing of Eve's infamous apple, prior to being met by the scent of fresh to progressively rotten florals as they walked through the Garden of Paradise. The sound of an original score, Noise, echoed throughout the halls, which was formulated through the voices of dozens of individuals who volunteered their inner ramblings - a quiet, murmuring echo which was amplified in an intimate sensory immersion room.
Guests were asked to confront the concept that none of us are exempt from our collective living system; having to interact with grouped piles of local trash amongst the exhibition corridors and ceilings. The touch of a cassette tape to rewind and pause, to share vulnerabilities through writing and acknowledge their innermost world. The Feast, a sugar-coated crescendo of the exhibition, played to the mockery and metaphors of consumption in a heavily saturated way; including the consumption of the female body.
Deranged indulgences that make the viewer look twice; stitched up fruits, goblets of butter and sugar, lines of ground coffee cut with a price tag, pharmaceuticals strewn like appetizers, desserts baked with charging cables and lightbulbs.... all interacting with nude female models, who were also presented on the table. an offering
The paintings within the exhibition played to both collective and individual experiences of what it means to be 'consumed'; through matters of mental health, relationships, bodily autonomy, materialism, sensory exploration, and emotional regulation.
While constructing the many layers of Consumption, we asked dozens of friends and family to record their responses to prompts, to allow us to hear their rambling, reoccurring thoughts. Preston Dunnavant, a local Charleston producer, created the overtone and original music score for Consumption using these ramblings, a 30 minute track titled Noise that played on a loop throughout the exhibition. It was heightened within our sensory immersion room, where we invited viewers to sit and be present with their senses. To revert back to sensory processing as children, one where we take in the world around us without obstruction.
Sound frequencies are crucial in the exploration of who we are. Our inner conversations stem from the unconscious mind; a constant rambling of thoughts, desires, worries, experiences. The unfiltered magnification of ego, fear, and self.
In a world of instant gratification and hustle, the rewinding of the cassette pairs with the intentional pause for presence-- alongside a prompt and journals to encourage vulnerability through the observation of these streams of consciousness. We invited the viewers to leave their reoccurring thoughts:
“do I do what makes me feel alive or what I’m expected to do?”
“I love myself but I don’t love what I’ve become”
“this is not dress rehearsal”
“get me off this hamster wheel”
“let’s go for a drive”
When we are able to strip back the heavy and saturated layers of sugar-coating, we find our creative source as the most basic posture, one where one can tap back into our collective heartbeat. It’s how we reclaim our selves and start from the ground up. We can begin to reframe things from the severed and separated parts, and reconstruct them back into the whole. This is the common work for the longevity and future of the tribe.
