In A State of Constant Flux

Flux...

Digital manipulation, 2014

In the West we have an unquenchable desire for new and exciting products to buy.  Creators of consumer goodies often look to other cultures for ideas that are new and exotic.  However, the problem with this is that the original cultural meaning is skewed and distorted in order to make it fit our market's needs. 

Retrieved from Pixabay

To its original creator the myth of Cupid and Psyche had important social and cultural meanings.  The idea of the classically beautiful star crossed lovers and their struggle to unite appeals greatly to us. 

For some reason the figure of Psyche has been dropped by consumer culture, despite our love of using the female body to market and sell a multitude of products.  The West has taken the figure of Cupid and turned him into a heavily stylised  cherub.

The Desolation of Cupid explores the journey of Cupid from his original purpose and form to what we now understand as being Cupid.

The artwork above is from Desolation of Cupid and attempts to describe the transformation process that occurs when Western consumer culture turns the meaningful into the consumable.  Cupid has become no more than a dumbed down icon that producers assign to products in order to entice us to buy.

Figure stock by Felix d'Eon

Texture by Arkano3

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appropriation

 

Borrowing From Others

My topic this study period in art is how our western consumerism affects other cultures.  This term I have been looking at how producers of consumable objects often borrow cultural artefacts from other cultures changing their meaning to suit their own needs.  

I've chosen to use the classical myth of Cupid/Eros as vehicle or metaphor through which to explore what happens when we distort the original meaning and intention.  This is one of the early pieces that I have developed trying to find strategies to convey to the viewer that disconnection from the original context of Cupid/Eros.  It also brings together traditional art making media, paint and charcoal, with the potential that software like Photoshop offers us.    

The hi-jacking and re-appropriation of Cupid/Eros began centuries ago when classically trained artists took the figure from being an adolescent male and turned him into a chubby cherub.  Our consumer culture has taken it even further and the figure is now stamped on every thing from Valentines Day to toilet paper.

Unless otherwise stated all images have been sourced from Wikimedia Commons and have been assigned a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License or are from the Public Domain
All of my artworks unless otherwise stated are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike license (Version 4.0 (international licence)