Supplies & Demands

Carmen Argote Will Benedict Maryam Jafri Nonfood Michael Queenland Asha Schechter

Supplies & Demands is a group exhibition of recent work and ongoing projects that explore the social, personal, and use values associated with consumer goods.

Every day we interact with a wealth of products that are meant for our consumption - a sea of stuff at our literal disposal. Through advertising, repeated purchases, and continued use, we grow a preference for particular goods, and develop buying patterns that suit our particular tastes. At times becoming loyal to a brand, these objects become extensions of ourselves and shape our identities. They reveal our individual habits, needs, and desires, and carry shared cultural signifiers.

The artists in Supplies & Demands engage with consumer products in their practices, asking us to reexamine our relationships with and understanding of these items. The selected artwork and projects specifically take on goods that we eat, drink, smoke, or cook with - nodding to the physical act of consumption and brand embodiment. They address the quick convenience these products provide, as either packaged, ready-to-go goods, or time-saving kitchen appliances. They also collectively illustrate the range of consumer markets - from high-end to working-class; niche to generic. Using commonplace goods as a starting point, the works and projects in the exhibition feel familiar yet uncanny. Decontextualized from their original use, they challenge us to give them deeper consideration.

Supplies & Demands is curated by Paulina Samborska, Curatorial Assistant at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design.