INFLATABLE CULTURE

Installed at Busan Sea Art Festival, South Korea, 2013

200 Inflated PVC toys

5 x 5 x 3m

The artwork is both a playful installation and a critical statement aimed at the contemplation of the natural and the man-made. Composed of hundreds of inflatable toys in the shapes of fish, animals, balls and beach boats, the artwork is a massive and joyous mound of the signature paraphernalia of beach experiences. In it are contained the childhood memories and games, as well as endless references to leisure and relaxation. As an accumulation of a variety of otherwise singular objects, the work takes shape as it represents the cumulative tendencies of our material culture. Concurrently the piece speaks to the contradictory contemporary understanding of what it is like to inhabit the natural environment and our broader disposable culture of consumption.