THE CONSUMER GAME

THE CONSUMER GAME

This iconic series created over a number of years, was initially generated by a piece included in a celebrity charity auction, which involved modifying a pair of Stan Smith Adidas trainers into ‘Heart & Sole‘ for the Platform Six exhibition at The Barge House, London in 2013.

The manifestation and challenges of these modifications inspired a developing use of actual trainers as a sculptural element, [‘One Size Fits All’, ‘That’s All Folks’, ‘See Society’ & ‘Left Lost Right Left’] eventually becoming the series of works known as The Consumer Game, which employs a pair of pre-sculpted & moulded trainers as the on-going motif.

These cast-able trainers contain the sculpted faces of two ‘babies’ with a nought over one eye and a cross over the other, emphasising the ‘game’. These ‘babies’ represent the everyman, all of us, swaddled and coerced by the corporate surround [the trainer hereby acting as an emblem for the all-encompassing nature of this world]

 

The implications being that none of us shall escape the corporate eye, it follows us and exerts its will from the cradle to the grave, a game in which we are all caught, perhaps with complicity, certainly to which we are exposed without ever knowing the complete set of rules. How we play the game ‘though, is entirely another matter…

A selection from the 2019 sub-series, ‘Rise And Fall’

The adaptable nature of being able to cast the core motif from a mould ensures this series will continue well into the future both in terms of how and where these ‘trainers’ are placed within a wider canvas or setting, whether wall mounted, floor based or free standing but also with regard to the materials used to cast; currently resin, Jesmonite, plaster & concrete but with a view to brass, steel & bronze.

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