Friday, March 14, 2014

Success is for Sale

 
It’s a Shoe In – Success is for Sale


Clay, glaze, paper, ribbon, staples and plastic



This old phrase “It’s a Shoe In”, historically refers to the horse races where a horse was a sure bet. In thinking about this and the prizes given to award winning horses, the ribbons and medals, I was inspired to produce this small series called “Success is for Sale”. 


To be an award winner takes money. Not just the horse races but also any sort of athletics or career.  At the same time as thinking about buying success I was researching Affluenza for a different body of work and found a connection between Affluenza and being “a shoe in”.  Those with money are buying their way in. Any success costs money, many people never reach their goals or dreams because the financial cost is too much.


Success is for sale in this time in history, major athletes are buying various performance enhancing drugs, bribing judges, quitting work to train full time, having personal trainers, massage therapists, spending money to be in the right circle of friends and hiring psychologists, is just a small list of the costs of success. Being an Olympian or bringing home an Olympic medal costs money. The more money spent, the more medals is often the story we hear in the news (Own the Podium program).


This series replicates a store shelf but “success” is for sale.  It is for sale for all those suffering from Affluenza, Kalopsia, as well for parvenus and arrivists. The QR codes are real, as are the UPC codes. Scan the UPC code and the product numbers spell “Success is for Sale”. Scan the QR codes and you are linked to a webpage about the series and links to instances where “Success has been purchased”.