Title
Creation Date
2014
Preview
Medium
inkjet print
Description
Dimensions: 8' x 10' (overall area)
This piece is part of a larger work entitled Amassed Identity.
Rights
© Rachael Jean Anderson, 2014. Photo credit: Rachael Jean Anderson.
Keywords
Beanie Babies, guitars, Pokémon, Betty Boop, Pez, fish
Artist Statement
Over the many years I’ve been studying at BSU, I’ve been focusing a lot of my art on materialism. I’m interested in the relationship between people and their objects because we live in a world where everyone seems to have the need to buy the most expensive things for social status. People also often have excessive amounts of objects that are not necessary, but that we acquire because we think we need it due to effective marketing, peer pressure, etc. I, too, am part of this materialistic world, but I’ve grown frustrated with this aspect of life in a way that is very meaningful to me. My passion is to travel, especially with those I am close with, which is impeded because my family and many of my friends spend money on objects instead of experiences. I have worked through this personal emotional struggle by exploring materialism through my photography in order to get a better idea and more full perspective of how other people are connected to tangible objects.
For this specific project I focused on collections, due to my interest in a large quantity of one kind of item, or one brand represented in various kinds of items. My goal was to find out why the person collects what they do, and to explore the reasoning behind buying so much of what they’ve gathered. I had no idea some of my friends had collections like these, which is something I never would have known if it weren’t for this project. Each person had their own story behind their unique assemblage and you can really tell a lot about a person by their collections. After this project I’ve learned that most collections are important when they are nostalgic and people are proud to show off their years of picking these objects.