Erin Ko’s latest mixed media work explores themes of industrialization, consumerism and a rapidly changing world. An emphasis on the intimate relationship between China and the U.S. is a constant element in this show ongoing series.

Consumer World Order

by Robert Powers
source: Global Times [00:18 February 04 2010]

The opening party for American artist Erin Ko's most recent exhibition, Free Money, left Imagine Gallery as a wreck. Torn propaganda-red banners were left hanging from the walls, red balloons and white bunches of plastic had been strewn everywhere, crumpled KFC cartons and numerous fake Chinese-meets-American bills of currency had been tossed about.

"The party is over," said Ko, explaining that disaster was intentional. "It really bothers me the direction the human race is going in."

Other than exploiting the gallery's space as a ready-made installation, Ko's exhibition consists of a series of archly satirical paintings and faux advertisements that range in tone from comically absurd to impishly misanthropic. Creepy-cute fat figurines sculpted by Ko, representing the end result of a consumer culture gone horribly overboard, are scattered about the floor, each one not much larger than the average Beijing dog.

"China is about to get very sick," she said, noting why she chose to appropriate fast food iconography. According to Ko, China is on a path toward reckless consumerism. "We are indulging ourselves to death and turning to a blind eye to way things really are. We should really be thinking about sustainability, personal responsibility and new ways to become modern."

Ko, who has lived in Beijing since autumn of last year, said that she has found a lot of similarities between China and the US.

"China and the US are opposite sides of the same coin," she said. "Both are giant nations with legacies wrapped around them. It gives the leaders of both countries the power to do whatever they want. The average American has a lot more in common with the average Chinese, a lot more in common than each has with their leaders."

Hyperbolic and intentionally ridiculous (though surprisingly catchy) slogans abound in Ko's work: "Let's Work Together to Consume!"; "It's Always Time to Eat!"; "Whiten Teeth For a Stronger Nation!"; "Smother the World in Plastic for Brighter Future!" Though one is ultimately left with a feeling of ambivalence toward what Ko sees as an increasingly corporate and consumerist cultural landscape in China. It's not certain if Ko wants us to lament societal decline or to just laugh at it

In one of Ko's more striking ersatz ads, KFC's Colonel Sanders, striking a pose not unlike a member of the Red Guard, proudly brandishes one of his patented drumsticks as if it were a beacon of progress; "One World, One Dream" is written in Chinese and English at the bottom.

"You could swap Mao for Colonel Sanders very easily," she said.