Pick your Player

Casted Concrete

2023

This summer I was assigned to cast concrete for my 3d class. After finding Shanspeare’s video back in the fall, I began thinking a lot about the role that social media plays in affecting how we form our identity in a hyper-materialistic culture. Every aspect of our lives is influenced by apps; affecting what/where we eat, what clothing we wear, trips we go on, and activities we do. These five pieces were created as a twist on monopoly game pieces. The chosen internet “personalities” are organized through a selected symbol and arrangement of found objects to fit their characteristics. I was inspired by the aesthetics of grunge, “cottage core”, y2k, “clean girl”, “art hoe”, and “vsco girl” to create these pieces. Many of these aesthetics are rooted in Bipoc cultures, and after circulation on the internet become whitewashed to sell to the general public.  

Internet personalities develop through the use of hashtags and memes, with certain videos of women, and popular products coming together to represent a certain kind of person. Buying products to attempt to fit into any of these flattened identities will not bring comfort in one’s identity. Fashion and decor companies’ biggest goal is to convince ourselves that you can buy a version of yourself that we will fully love. The material world is only external, and we will never find fulfillment in these objects that measure up to spending time with people we love, or working on our inner healing. 

Credit to @byhatsue for the amazing photos! They were so fun to work with.