Celebrity Catastrophe Wallpaper
print, Spring 2007
Graduate Studio II: Bethany Johns, Lucinda Hitchcock
Tags: aggrandizement, asshattery, burlesque, caricature, celebrity, mock-heroic, the media machine, pop culture, snark
Overview
- Self-contained symbolic stories of eight recent celebrity downfalls, patterned together to create a collective narrative of greed, addiction, exhibitionism and racism.
- A commentary on the nature of celebrity scandals and the 24-hour news circus that follows them.
- Wallpaper as a metaphor for can’t-escape-it-even-if-you-want-to media sensationalism.
Process
So many design assignments seem to begin with a random element, and this project was no exception. This time, each member of the class was given a word from which to create a narrative. I drew the unlikely word “unbuckling,” which instantly made me think of pants-removal — which eventually led me to thinking about overblown sex scandals.
February 2007 was, by (happy?) coincidence, a relative goldmine of celebrity scandal. The astronaut-in-diapers lady, Britney’s head shaving and Anna Nicole’s death all happened right around the same time I started this project. Since these are the things our culture celebrates through unending promotion and discussion, I made the decision to represent them mock-heroically, as ornate heraldic-style motifs.
Form
The nature of wallpaper is that it can surround the viewer on all sides and sets the tone of a room; it can fade into the background or entice a close examination; it can annoy or be ignored. Here, it functions formally as a metaphor for the sensationalist nature of the news media and the phenomenon of infotainment – a physical manifestation of the constant, unavoidable din of celebrity dealings and scandals.
Wallpaper provides a unique opportunity for public engagement. I could envision this as a conversation-starter if installed in locations such as hotels, restaurants or clubs. It was able to function in that capacity when it was installed at the Sol Koffler gallery, where people told me that they were initially drawn in by the pop culture references and further intrigued by overall narrative it suggests.
Exhibition
This work is currently installed in the in the RISD admissions office at the Woods-Gerry House, and will be on display through the Fall of 2008.
This work was shown at the Sol Koffler Gallery in Providence, RI from October 19 to November 4, 2007 as part of the graphic design graduate show, Continuum. (Sol Koffler exhibition photo courtesy Fish Bohn.)
The Celebrity Catastrophe Wallpaper was also exhibited at the The Rhode Island School of Design’s 2008 Annual Graduate Thesis Exhibition from May 20 to June 1, 2008.
