Stop Sweatshops Now

This is a collage of magazine images on a 98 lb. mixed media substrate.

In the same way that Dada was a reaction to the violence of World War I, this collage is a depiction of our society’s confused reaction to the exploitation of workers in and from the third world, particularly in the textile and food industries.  We say that we want to stop sweat shops, but we continue our idolatry of the fashion industry.  Similarly, many countries import foreign workers to pick their fruits and vegetables and deny them societal and safety rights. Since the collapse of the factory in Bangladesh, I have been following the western world’s struggle to mount an effective, appropriate reaction while still satisfying our desire for beauty and low cost.

I did this piece for my Introduction to Art Concepts & Techniques course.  We are studying “Fantastic Art” this week, and one of the associated art movements is Dada.