Killing

you

softly

Killing you softly is a reflection on our consumer culture. On a culture, which while comforting our needs, softly destroys us.  Hyper-consumerism has spread globally, and its tactics of persuasion have established a material culture where the hardcore whirlwind of information and the dense wilderness of materials have engaged a large part of most societies and cultures. Products of the capitalist system are more commonly represented than ordinary objects. They are the extensions of the self.

We ought to question the objects we own and surround ourselves with. To what extent do they represent our identities? Did we make these objects or have these objects created us? If so then consumption is a part of the way we live, and consumer goods are who we are. The desire behind the false promises we shop for will never go out of fashion. The power of products is undeniable and their effects are unavoidable. In effect, globalism and consumerism have succeeded in banishing moderation and sanctifying greed, thereby liberating Homo economicus from any moral or ethical constraints on consumption.

Consumerism has created our own monsters, which we are slowly becoming ourselves. The creatures we created out of ourselves are comforting our desires, blinding us to the values of purely material culture. Killing you softly reminds us that products are taking over identities. Products have become the instruments for constructing our everyday reality, where the main roles are played by our material goods.  

Killing you softly is an interpretation of how we see products and how much of our identities are represented by the products we own. Killing you softly is an installation, encouraging visitors to embrace themselves with the abstract and playful shapes. At first sight, the installation provides an impulsive and flirtatious encounter suggesting an innocent playground. While comforting the engaging visitors the installation slowly suffocates the ones who truly embrace themselves. However, the soft shapes provide comfort the overwhelming power of the total volume represents the overpowering effects of consumer products we are surrounded by. Each shape within the installation comes with a strap, which can be used to attach the shapes to each other or to the visitors themselves. The attached volume and weight ought to represent the bond we create with our products, a bond that is hard to break. 

Materials | textile, foam, leather, fur, polyester, latex, acryl

Volume | 3 cubic metre – 36 individual hand-sewn objects

Photos | Medina Rešić

Exhibited at | Capital C Amsterdam, Dutch Design Week 2019, Neverneverland De Nachtegaal, Looiersgracht 60