Consumption

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

Pleasure is what makes food and drink gratifying. It is a mental, biological/neurological phenomenon. Behavior is driven by pleasure and is not just a reactionary result stemming from basic need. Pleasure is also what molds the response for future action. For example, food can control our behavior. It is also instinctual. Pleasure is an instinctual impetus, similar to sex and hunger. In short, pleasure can control our behavior.

In this work, I re-conceptualize pleasure as a basic human instinct through a visceral, metaphorical association with food. There is an added connotation of how pleasure transforms the way we think. Pleasure is an instinctual behavior, akin to the consumption of sweets that serves as gratification. In many Western cultures, there is a social normative that allows the sexualization of bodies. However, this piece calls into question the selfishness derived from the pleasure of objectification.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

I utilize visual metaphor by relating two entities such that attributes of the source (waffles and ice cream) are mapped onto a the target entity (breasts) using contextual evidence. The waffles are delicious and visualized as something to be eaten. The breasts are therefore, also delicious, and something to be consumed. There is also a visual narrative by placing the viewer as an active participant as the 'owner' of the breasts. The placement of the utensils add tension illuminating the proposition of human body parts as an act of aggression. The vantage point feels threatening.

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

Social constructs influence the transformation of self-image. I bring this phenomenon to light by placing the viewer in a highly susceptible role in which s/he has no control. As the person with the breasts, the viewer is able to conceptualize the associative aggression of being transformed into an object to be used for the pleasure of others. I ask the viewer to reflect upon the sexualization of [womens'] bodies and how society derives pleasure at the expense of the dignity of others. The benefit of society is through empathetic understanding.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

If you flip the image around so that you are sitting in the "consumer's" position (the plate of food directly in front of you with the breasts across from you), the image takes on a whole different meaning. By playing the role of the consumer, instead of the consumed, the utensils are less aggressive as they are pointing away from you. The image becomes much more cliché with the simple association of delicious food, delicious breasts. It is interesting how a simple reversal of roles can have such a visceral reaction.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

This image is successful because it creates active dialog through the construction of meaning. It functions as performative imagery through integrated visual discourse using interpretational processing and cognitive work. It serves as an aid to help the audience conceptualize the human body as a "consumable" by comparing it to dessert. It also engenders empathetic understanding by casting the viewer in an active role.

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

The image was created as a response to an editorial article on pleasure as a basic human instinct. I was inspired by the social implication posed by this competition to reevaluate how instinct and social awareness interact. The image was intended as an editorial image for articles on the objectification of others and/or pleasure as a basic human instinct or social normative.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

No?