Fleeced

social interaction and the self is embedded in social practices.Endeavors to create the consumer's self-identity often involve the consumption of products, services, and media; and there is always tension between the meanings we construct for ourselves and those we are exposed to socially ... this dialectic tension requires active negotiation of meaning.1 1.2 personal History The best place to begin discussion of Fleeced is to start with a brief personal history.This is necessary as a grounding of the subject matter, materials, methodology, and sensibilities used to execute Fleeced.Since my arrival here at the University of Saskatchewan, my research has revolved around issues of consumerism, commodity fetishism, and kitsch.My interest in these areas of research stems from a need to understand the world around me in relation to my origins.I have used a unique methodology of sourcing ideas, materials, and production strategies for my art practice by visiting and observing the "Retail Landscape."I was born in 1969, a time when consumer goods started to reduce in quality due to the increased proliferation of plastiCS.Instead of over-engineering things as they had previously done, designers began designing with planned obsolescence in mind.This means that every few years products should wear out, break, or simply go out of style.The use of plastic made things cheap enough that if they broke, customers would just buy another one.Thisties into the theme of Fleeced: we are being deceived by the notion we must constantly replace and upgrade everything ... keeping the Capitalist Machine going.This notion of insatiability is described in Grant McCracken's book Culture and Consumption New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities: Consumer goods are a way of perpetually renewing our consumer expectations.The dark side of this aspect of consumption is that it helps to enlarge our consumer appetites so that we can never reach a "sufficiency" of goods and declare "I have enough" This aspect of consumption also helps illuminate some of the irrational, fantastic, escapist attachments we have to consumer goods.2I am interested in responding to the ways in which I was socialized in my childhood, as well as examining the behaviors I inherited from my family of origin.Because I work quite intuitively in my art practice, I have the tendency to revert to a subconscious matrix that is part my past experience and part my present experience.Thrown into this mix are things like cartoons, fast food, and children's toys.These elements are visible in my work yet often escape recognizability.I am the son of a carpenter, and from a very young age I was interested in assembling things.I would follow my father around work-sites and pick up scraps of wood and nail them together.He would often ask "Why don't you build something you can use?"I guess even then I was interested in making things that were just for looking.I was fascinated by forms and how materials related to each other.I come from a self-professed line of Bargain Hunters.Situated smack in the middle of the working class, my family were Carpenters, Train Engineers, Farmers, Homemakers and General Laborers.All had a good strong prairie work ethic and the ability to spot a bargain.One

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