Consumption Junction

A group exhibition addressing a range of topics related to mass consumption—from excessive spending, pollution, and urban infrastructure to alternative transportation, suburban sprawl, and recycling

Curated by James Voorhies

Columbus College of Art & Design, OH
September 13–December 8, 2007

Amy Chan, Guy Debord, Design Management AS, Dan Graham, Komar & Melamid, Learning Group, Nicola López, Scott Massey, Miss Rockaway Armada, Ester Partegás, Tim Rietenbach, 5.5 Designers

Made possible with funding and staff of Columbus College of Art & Design with grants from Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council; realized within my responsibilities as Director of Exhibitions at Columbus College of Art & Design

There is currently an extraordinary surge of interest in the state of the environment as we become increasingly aware of the cultural and ecological consequences caused by acts of over-consumption. A number of green organizations, labels, and certifications have contributed to more environmentally conscious ways of living and pushed these issues to a public forefront. But egregious waste, over-indulgence and mass consumerism continue to define contemporary society. Environmental activism is expressed in the things we buy and how we live, demonstrating our support for a better world through collective consumption of organically certified and socially accepted green products, actions and services. Alas, it is still consumption.

So how do we live an effective, environmentally sound life? In Consumption Junction participants sought to make us think more about these issues and other topics related to the general impact humans make on the earth. Through insightful cultural criticisms and whimsical, imaginative alternatives set somewhere between reality and fiction, the artists, writers, designers, thinkers, filmmakers and performers in the exhibition shared a sensitivity to this worldwide environmental movement and ecological crisis. We were encouraged to contemplate these issues a little more deeply at a juncture where excessive consumption and the environment meet.

Book

Ester Partegàs, Experience Life, 2007, from the series We the People, inkjet ultrachrome archival print, 44 x 50 inches each; courtesy of the artist and Foxy Production, New York.

Dan Graham, Death by Chocolate: West Edmonton Shopping Mall, (1986–2005), 2005, video, 8 minutes, color, sound, courtesy of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York. Ester Partegàs, We the People series, inkjet ultrachrome archival print, 44 x 50 inches each; courtesy of the artist and Foxy Production, New York.

Dan Graham, Death by Chocolate: West Edmonton Shopping Mall, (1986–2005), 2005, video, 8 minutes, color, sound, courtesy of Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York.

The Miss Rockaway Armada, 2006, photograph by Santiago Mostyn, slide installation and photographs; courtesy of the artists.

Nicola Lopez, White Noise, 2006, ink, graphite on paper, 44.5 x 44.5 inches; courtesy of Caren Golden Fine Art, New York. The Miss Rockaway Armada, 2006, photograph by Santiago Mostyn, slide installation and photographs; courtesy of the artists.

Nicola Lopez, White Noise, 2006, ink, graphite on paper, 44.5 x 44.5 inches; courtesy of Caren Golden Fine Art, New York.

Nicola López, Strange Skies, 2005, woodblock and silkscreen on paper and Mylar 84 x 96 inches; collection of Nancy and Stanley Singer.

Tim Rietenbach, Praying Hands, 2007, mixed-media, site-specific installation dimensions variable; courtesy of the artist. Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 1973, downloaded from UbuWeb and transferred to DVD, 88 minutes.

Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, 1973, downloaded from UbuWeb and transferred to DVD, 88 minutes.

Scott Massey, 93B Avenue at 165th Street, 2006, from the series Crepuscule, fujiFlex print with UV lamination, 40 x 40 inches each; courtesy of the artist.

Learning Group, [Collecting System] in Monterrey, Mexico, 2005, documentation of [Learning Book #001] and [Learning Poster #003]; courtesy of the artists. Scott Massey, 93B Avenue at 165th Street, 2006, from the series Crepuscule, fujiFlex print with UV lamination, 40 x 40 inches each; courtesy of the artist.

Learning Group, [Collecting System] in Monterrey, Mexico, 2005, documentation of [Learning Book #001] and [Learning Poster #003]; courtesy of the artists.

Komar & Melamid, Architectural Fantasies, 1998, from the series Collaborations with Animals, computer print collages, 11 x 17 inches each. Courtesy of the former Komar & Melamid Art Studio Archive.

Tim Rietenbach, Praying Hands, 2007, mixed-media, site-specific installation dimensions variable; courtesy of the artist. 5.5 Designers, Réanim, 2004, mixed-media installation dimensions variable; courtesy of the designers. Ester Partegàs, We the People series, inkjet ultrachrome archival print, 44 x 50 inches each; courtesy of the artist and Foxy Production, New York.

5.5 Designers, Réanim, 2004, mixed-media installation dimensions variable; courtesy of the designers. Design Management AS, Trondheim, Norway, The Bicycle Lift Trampe, built 1993, photo documentation and video; courtesy of the designer.

Design Management AS, Trondheim, Norway, The Bicycle Lift Trampe, built 1993, photo documentation and video; courtesy of the designer.

Amy Chan, Tallgrass Prairie, 2006, from the series New Ecosystems, gouache on panel, 20 x 26 inches each; courtesy of the artist and Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston.

Amy Chan, New Ecosystems, 2006, with Ohio Flood, 2007, acrylic on wall site-specific installation dimensions variable; courtesy of the artist.

Consumption Junction, 2007, 52 pages, 8.25 x 5 inches.