Reader of the Week: Kate Bingaman-Burt of Starkville, Mississippi
obsessiveconsumption.com chief artist
By Jihanah Rasul
Published: March 25th, 2008 | 9:35am
Your artwork is humorous and satirical about America’s capitalist culture — you even make reproductions of your own credit card statements. How did you come up with the concept of making art from things you've purchased? Do you believe that we are what we consume? What is the purpose of this kind of artwork?
The ideas were formulating when I worked as a graphic designer in the gift industry. I would go to trade shows and watch people buy all day long. I acted on these ideas when I went to graduate school shortly afterward.
Part of my work is about making the mundane special. We all buy stuff. Extreme anti-consumer activists still consume. Mall kids consume. Moms consume.
I am taking these mass-produced products and personalizing them. The consumer is no longer faceless. My work doesn't operate on a traditional functional level but more as an object of contemplation. I want my pieces to work on several levels: formal (colors, design, composition) and conceptual (consumer commentary, transparency of personal consumerism, people thinking about their own consumerism through my consumerism).
What I make and produce — I am aware of its lack of necessity — but I hope the viewer will connect with the process and concept and want a part (and ultimately be a part) of what I am doing. I like the cyclical nature. They are purchasing souvenirs.
Do you have an arts background? Do you consider yourself an artist?
I grew up with a family of weavers, and my grandparents were painters. I wanted to be a broadcast journalist — ha! I finished my English degree and went straight into an art degree my junior year of college. I also have my MFA in graphic design.
What materials do you use to create these pieces?
I use whatever materials necessary to get a project completed the way it needs to be completed in my mind. Some of my favorite materials: fabric, thread, black ink pens, crisp white paper, gocco, bright tubes of cheap paint, and construction paper.
—
View Kate Bingaman-Burt's work at obsessiveconsumption.com.
—
Want to be our Reader of the Week? Become our pal on Facebook.com and MySpace.com/venuszine.
Comments
Please login to be able to comment on this article.
more