Ellen Mueller

Collecting Rectangles

collecting-rectangles

NOW AVAILABLE: Vanilla Utopia book

Collecting Rectangles (exhibit)
Sleeth Gallery, Buckhannon WV
Exhibition: Mon, Nov 16 – Fri, Nov 16, 2015
Live Performance of Vanilla Utopia: Thur, Nov 19, 2015 at 4:30-6pm

Reprise of Vanilla Utopia performance at Washington & Lee University:
Wednesday, November 9, 2016 from 1:30 to 3:30pm

Reprise of Vanilla Utopia performance at Kalamazoo College:
Thursday, April 26, 2018 from 6:00 to 8:30pm

 

Collecting Rectangles Series: Plastic Bags

Collecting Rectangles Series: Sealer

Collecting Rectangles Series: Punching

 

I am interested in the intersection between capitalism and daily activities. Consumer culture is fully intertwined with personal and professional relationships, education, transportation, and shelter. It can manifest as a series of rectangular certificates, diplomas, titles, and deeds that humans collect from birth to death. Desire and access are central to these collections. Within this work, I am primarily interested in developing situations that disrupt familiar social trajectories and hierarchies. Utilizing recognizable apparel and gestures, I am playfully occupying the threshold of absurdity, while asking questions about time, value, routines, consumption, and the monetization of happiness.