Of Packing Materials and the Environment

Sexed Up Bubblewrap
Sexed Up Bubblewrap

I met with a rep some time ago, and she suggested that while my lighting is beautiful, my subject matter is a little challenging, and that she thought that more mundane content would be more accessible. So I've collected a bunch of packing materials - boxes, padding, tissue paper...bubble wrap.

I'm looking for the story here in this stuff, and all that's come to mind so far is something about waste, about overpackaging. I headed in a couple directions during yesterday's test, and some of them explored that idea, so I'll be getting back to that.

But the bubble wrap photo really demonstrates the tension in my art right now, between cautionary tales and glamorized objects. If the message of the photo is that we use too much packing material, how does sexed up bubble wrap convey that? More appropriately, what is the message of sexed up bubble wrap?

If I want to suggest, and I'm not sure that I do, because I'm not even sure it's an issue any more, that we use too much packing material, is this the way to go about it?

And more broadly, I think the essence af the advice from the rep was to make pictures that people can and want to relate to. And few people want to be preached at.

Well, whatever. It's very early in the project and these things tend to work themselves out. I'll be fine with the sexiest collection of packing materials ever; I'll be fine with a sermon on the evil of packing materials. And maybe that'll be one set of photos.