asking the tough questions

Mission17, a sleek little gallery above a thrift store in San Francisco’s Mission District, is showing an exhibit that has ArtLicker all in a tizzy. Ryan Alexiev’s mixed media installation “The Land of a Million Cereals” is a commentary on American consumerism featuring pieces made entirely of breakfast cereal.

LICK!

Alexiev creates exaggerated and at times gawdy representations of consumer culture as seen through the eyes of a F.O.B. Bulgarian peasant. The result is a humorous and thought-provoking commentary on what we consume and why we do it. The Mission17 sites says:

“Currently, there are 400 different kinds of cereals on the market, which ultimately are distinguished by little more than their ad campaigns.”

Chew on that for a sec…sure, Oat Bran probably has more fiber and nutritional value than Coco Puffs. I think the distinction arises when you choose Coco Pebbles over Coco Puffs. I mean, I just find Sonny annoying, but really they taste the same to me. Ugh. Although I may think of myself as a rational, educated consumer, at my core I fall shamelessly for the marketing of the most common products. I don’t like that image of myself, but that’s what good art is supposed to do. In my opinion, if an artist can get me to examine my own behavior and experiences then they’ve done something laudable.

But this guy below? I’ll never touch that stuff.

Sit still or I'll give you something to whine about

The Land of a Million Cereals is currently showing at Mission17 until Aug 2, 2008.