new work

Our nation has become a land of followers. We devour slogans which are directed at us constantly and over time we believe and we start to follow. We don't need to vote for the next big thing but we do. We're told to.
 Celebrity is created through constant media download. Commercials instruct us to buy the things we simply cannot survive without and TV show adverts tease us with whats to come. Inevitably it results in an anti-climax.
We've become a nation thats easily led by slogans, messages and signs.

'Do As Your Sold...no.1',   Household paint on black canvas, 60cm x 30cm.

This gives me the idea that we can change a persons attitude with a simple set of words. One single word, whispered or shouted, can in an instant enrage someone as-well as calm them. The constant pressure of being told to 'VOTE NOW' can eventually see you making that call or sending that text. 

I like the idea of using these words and creating signs to alter peoples attitudes towards the day ahead. The traffic moves slowly along the busy road every morning. Cars are filled with job hating workers heading toward what they already regret. Can my signs change this? I doubt it very much but just for a second they may encourage something, start the ball rolling and bring the idea to life inside someones head. 

These are my hope signs; 'Highway Observational People Empowerment' signs. 

I like the idea of them popping up at the side of the road for people to see on the way to work. Of course, they don't all have to have a positive message. My mood for the day can change the sign I put up, thus changing the mood of the people reading it. 

All week you see positive encouraging signs then on friday one that reads

 'You've got to do it all again next week"....

I want the signs to be seen and questions to be asked by the viewer of themselves and the lives they live. Viewers can use them. Be inspired or encouraged but then at the same time the possibility exists that the signs can anger you, make you realise things, empower you. They have multiple meanings.

I'm interested in the way the words become 'owned' by the viewer. The actual signs stay fixed to one spot but the words go with the viewer. They look at society today, the way we live and survive. How many people hate their day to day routine but in this world of job shortages, huge mortgages and recession can't do a thing about it. 

The words can be placed in situations to create an atmosphere. This garage door would entice you to look inside but at the same time you'd have the feeling that something terrible may lie inside. A simple message that works in two different ways. Because 'no one should see'... I want to see.