Rachel Maclean’s Wot u :-) about? exhibition displayed at Tate Britain
Since the 15th November 2016, Glasgow-based multi-media artist and filmmaker Rachel Maclean’s work Wot u :-) about? has been on display at Tate Britain as part of their Art Now series. The free exhibition which consists of several prints and a film explores and critiques the behaviours of society, focusing specifically on their every-growing dependency on social media and the internet and what life would be like without it.
Maclean’s thirty-minute film ‘It’s What’s Inside That Counts 2016’ combines social media, fairy tales and children’s programmes to highlight the ways in which media companies and social media corporations use selective imagery to manipulate consumers and affect their day-to-day thinking.
The unusual but intriguing film, in which according to the Tate Britain website, Maclean plays all the characters herself and “uses green-screen backdrops to create sinister animated environments”, centres around a strange yellow celebrity-like figure who is the embodiment of data. She is the sole distributor of data to crowds of desperate zombie-like people until her system is hacked and data is no longer available, leading to endless chants of ‘We Want Data!’ and a complete breakdown in society.
This fantastic eye-opening feature really focuses in on the theme of dependence and how if there came a time when people didn’t have access to the internet or social media, there would be chaos and people wouldn’t know what to do.
The highly-colourful exhibition also features several prints portraying of characters featured in this film. One display in particular, depicts the celebrity-like figure who metaphorically controls data usage, lying on the floor with one of the zombie-like people standing on top of her holding a sign stating the words ‘We Want Data!’. Surrounding the two, are the rabbit-faced hackers chewing at her cables, attempting to steal her data.
Whilst the image is constructed in a fun and light-hearted manner, it captures Maclean’s main message of societies’ problem with online dependency through the desperation her characters feel to get their data back when it’s unavailable.
This contemporary outlandish style of work is not usual for Maclean as the BBC Arts website states, she uses photography and videography to “delve into politics, society and identity’. Whilst Wot u :-) about? covers a worldwide, cross-generation issue, it really focuses in on the younger generation and explores both their dependency on technology and the effect social media and the media in general, has on them growing up. This is a rarely covered, but innovative concept to see at Tate Britain.
As the Tate Britain websites states, the galleries’ Art Now series focuses on “new work by emerging artists...and provides a platform for... established figures in the British and international art scene”. Whilst this brilliant long-running initiative highlights both historical art, contemporary artists like Rachel Maclean are also given a platform, which is something that is hopefully seen more often in the future.
The piece, which the Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke describes as “garish and repulsive”, is being viewed with mixed reactions with some stating it is confusing, whilst others enjoying Maclean’s creativity and individualism. The Social Hub caught up some of these visitors to get their reactions in an audio package linked below.
The exhibition at Tate Britain runs until 9th April 2017.
Cultural Appropriation – The Ultimate Fashion Faux Pas
Women’s fashion retailer Topshop caused a huge spark of controversy this week by introducing an item of clothing known as a ‘romper’ in the print of a Keffiyeh. Shoppers were outraged by the use of the Keffiyeh scarf pattern and instantly began interrogating staff about their ignorance, claiming that the brand were culturally appropriating to commercialize. The Keffiyeh is a scarf often worn by Pro-Palestinian activists and is a symbol of Palestinian nationalism.
Topshop introduced this controversially patterned romper into their festival wear collection this week just in time for the Coachella Music Festival season in California. Music festivals, particularly Coachella, have always been heavily scrutinised in the media for cultural appropriation. These festivals are vastly becoming a staple of youth culture and are a renowned breeding ground for new fashion trends. But unfortunately, the pressure to look as individual as possible for these events has created further pressure on the fashion industry. This has lead to a ‘panic’ that they must create the most chic and cool festival fashions in time for this season. Unfortunately in order to create the perfect festival style, rather than being original it has lead to a vast amount of appropriation from various cultures.
Urban Outfitters had previously caused a huge uproar by releasing a line of women’s scarves also with the Keffiyeh pattern. They caused further outrage by calling it the ‘anti-war scarf.’ This outrage was caused due to fact the Keffiyeh has terrorist connotations. Ever since the founder of the Fatah terrorist group entered the UN armed with a gun and the Keffiyeh on his head, the Keffiyeh has become a symbol of Palestinian political violence. Both Tophop and Urban Outfitters were accused of trivialising the Keffiyeh as mere fashion. Unfortunately, Urban Outfitters did not recall their ‘anti-war scarf’ they simply just renamed it.
Topshop has not yet commented on their offensive item of clothing however this is not the first time that the company have been scrutinised for cultural appropriation. Topshop angered customers previously by selling a highly offensive ‘head charm necklace’ that featured a string of heads portraying a racist early 19th Century stereotype of East Asians. The store claimed that this necklace was ‘vintage style’ and was not intended to be racist. However, due to the mass critical responses it was taken down from the shelves. Topshop have caused equal uproar by insulting Hindu culture by releasing lines of jeweled bindis. The store were also accused of ripping off Native American culture by selling feathered Native American headdresses in their festival collection.
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to escape from cultural appropriation nowadays. It is also very difficult to distinguish the line between culture appreciation and appropriating culture. Some festivals such as the Montreal Osheaga have taken steps towards stopping cultural appropriation and have banned first nation headdresses from being worn to the event. Perhaps the answer to decreasing cultural appropriation is to educate people on the meaning of their clothing and why it may be considered offensive. As most people who cultural appropriate are unintentionally being offensive as they are unaware of the true meaning of their clothing.
For further information on what cultural appropriation is and what may be considered offensive listen below:
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-Kaisey Elder