Consumption

Consumption (n) - the using up of a resource; the eating, drinking, or ingesting of something.

So my original idea started off as things you consume in college. The original things in my collection include:

1. Monster
2. Caffeine pills
3. Coffee
4. Cereal (I noticed a lot of people would buy their own cereal)
5. Sweets
6. Money
   
7. Deals
8. Fast food

But then after the discussion, I definitely want to expand on my idea. I wanted to take the idea of consumption to another level. So I guess I'm deviating, but not too far from my original collection. But what I plan is as follows:

We are all consumed by things that entice us in some form or another. However, I plan to display our--I guess you can say--private, voluntary consumptions. The four types of consumptions I plan to display are vanity, money, culture, and carnal desires. Just realizing it now, they kind of relate to all each other. They build upon one another. Maybe breaking up consumption in this way was a reflection of how I've been feeling lately. (rant begins here) I've been thinking lately how some insecurities are based on how culture champions particular, intangible physicality, that play into carnal desires. At times it requires money to get them, but either way, it leads people to a state of insecurity, where, (for me at least) makes them vain (a.k.a narcissism, but without pride or "excessive or erotic interest in oneself") because they constantly need a reference to compare themselves to the ideal, the model. (/end rant)

I plan to display this through a sculpture (which I think will be my reproduction)--a stack of dishes. I plan to use dishes because we use dishes to eat our food. Eating food is a daily thing. Eating food is consumption. So by placing these four ideas on dishes, it connotes how these four ideas are things we experience throughout our lives.

It will consist of four layers, representing the four ideas:

1. Cup --vanity
   
2. Smaller plate -- money (brands)
   
3. Bowl -- culture
   
4. Larger plate -- carnal
   

Each layer will be covered up with a collage of some sort. For example, for the money layer, I plan to get "happy images" and then try to xerox transfer dollars and money signs as an overlay. Pretty much playing off the idea that "money can't buy happiness." Another layer, such as carnal, will be covered up with porn-like advertisements from various resources.

So I guess what I would add to my collection are fashion magazines, some sort of pornish magazine (haha), and a mirror.

As of putting my original things back into my collection, I plan to put them into the money section (covering up the dishes), where it can fall under brands.

As of final display it all pretty much will be in the sculpture.

A small note:

I thought of doing a dish sculpture because at Pippins, the Middle Earth dinning common, I always stack my dishes (which is about 3 dishes, 2 cups) and each time I do it it looks like an interesting sculpture. So the dishes I will use will be taken (without permission, haha) from Pippins.