The work of Artist Barbara Kruger is defined by its striking use of black and white images captioned with declarative mantras such as “I shop therefore I am,” adopted, tongue-in-cheek, by Selfridges who have been displaying it in stores since December 2003.
In the S/S04 issue of AnOther, Kruger discussed the significance of displaying her poignant messages within the context of a retail environment:
“I like suggesting that ‘we are slaves to the objects around us,’ that ‘plenty should be enough,’ or that the ‘buyer should beware,’ within the context of conventional selling space.”
As well as exploring her typically thought-provoking cultural comments, the interview also revealed some of Kruger’s other observations. Prior to the appearance of blogs dedicated to exposing the extent of Photoshop in magazines and advertising, Kruger said the following,
“Seeing is no longer believing. The very notion of truth has been put into crisis. In a world bloated with images, we are finally learning that photographs do indeed lie.”
Kruger’s latest book, Barbara Kruger, is the most extensive book of her work to date and is published by Rizzoli.
Read more selected quotes from the AnOther archives in On The Record.
