Today I am decompressing and cleaning an "excessive" amount of mess.
Over the last three days, I spent most of my time finishing a large mixed media piece called Excessarama. It has been entered in the annual juried exhibition at the Latcham Gallery in Stouffville, Ontario. I will know by tonight if it has been accepted.
The piece is a commentary on one's experience when they shop at dollar stores. When we go into a dollar (or discount) store we feel like millionaires. We can afford anything. We can buy as much as we want. Looking at an organized shelf or wall in a dollar store with all the colours and textures of the shiny, unused items, they look like economical jewels. We think to ourselves, "That looks nice. I need one of those. How many should I get? I wonder if I can find...?" We are enticed to buy stuff. I am most enticed by cheap wax paper, low-grade eyeglasses and mittens that go missing through the winter season.
Aside from the obvious questions of: Is it recyclable? Is it of good quality? Do I really need another one of these? What person in a far away country put these tiny toy pieces together for very little pay? I would like to pose the question: What if ALL we had were dollar stores (and discount stores) to buy the products we want in our lives: clothes, food, toys, furniture, computers, cars, etc?
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