A Consuming Conundrum

Abstract

Woman Made Gallery Chicago May 4-June 21, 2012 saw Consumer Culture at Woman Made Gallery in Chicago on an eerily hot day in mid-June, a reminder that global warming has robbed us of the loveliness of an early summer day. The urgent question is how, in the face of such a huge crisis, can we continue to drown ourselves in big-box store consumer goods so clearly responsible for much of the problem? Curator M. E. Ware explored this issue from a variety of conceptual and material angles stemming from her own deep artistic commitment to the issue surrounding consumption, particularly as it relate to women. The show was full of wonderful pieces, ranging from Mary Ellen Croteau's Endless columns 2011 12, an assemblage of plastic that looked like a twisted child's LEGO tower of pill bottles and Tide detergent tops, to Ifeoma Anyaeji's wonderful Mkpu Mkpu Oche (Small Stool) 2012 made from plastic bags and crates, an exploration of alternative visions of beauty and utility. A selection of media works made some of the strongest statements. Lauri Burrier's video 5 Days Plastic 2011 pairs a visual catalog of five days of her plastic refuse the volume is surprising with collected images of its devastating impact on the environment and its inhabitants. A soundtrack reminiscent of a dance club adds another layer to the mindless consumer aspect, creating an ambiance of trance-like devotion,. The video is posted on You Tube: watching it there is a bit like participating in an instant symposium, with other hits for important works on the same topic. Further online research revealed a wealth of information about the artists and works thematic exhibitions benefit tremendously from descriptive texts: some at the gallery were more helpful than others). Katie Kapuza's animated video ID Don't Want to be Wholesome (2011) features images of women's consumer goods from junk mail overlaid with strange, but powerful, spoken word excerpts like, I was not of a brilliant mind, nor of beautiful face. It turns out the audio is Gertrude Behanna, a bizarre religious zealot and supposed former heroin addict who made vinyl recordings about her ways and coming to Christ. The work presents an interesting twist on religion as a different kind of consumerism. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In an ongoing video and performance project. Homing 2011, Michelle Acuff walks through both natural and urban landscapes such as the Art Institute of Chicago museum campus with a life-sized plastic duet lawn ornament on her back and dressed like a lumberjack. It has a nice taste of hunting lodge hipster irony, in which the embrace of nature is nothing more than a consumer costume in flannel and Timberlands. …