White Copyright
Collection:CSM Museum & Study Collection
Date: 2019
Artist: White Copyright
Artist: Chai Kamrai
Dimensions:
50 × 100 × 100 × 100 mm (5 × 10 × 10 × 10 cm) - roll of tape (MICS.2019.105.CC.2)
3 × 78 × 25 mm (0.3 × 7.8 × 2.5 cm) - key ring (MISC.2019.105.CC.3)
770 × 710 mm (77 × 71 cm)- t-shirt (MISC.2019.105.CC.1)
670 × 720 mm (67 × 72 cm)- t-shirt (MISC.2019.105.CC.4)
Medium: Printed cotton, printed packing tape and printed acrylic keyring.
Object number: MISC.2019.105.CC.1-4
DescriptionFour pieces (2 t-shirts, roll of tape and a key ring) by the brand White Copyright, created by CSM Fine Art graduate Chai Kamrai. The brand explores the ideas of Whiteness and privilege.
.1 T-shirt
On front:
White Men TM
On back:
www.whitecopyright.com
Whiteness is consuming
Whiteness is constricting
Whiteness is invisible
Whiteness is empty
Whiteness is sterile
Whiteness is death
.2 roll of tape
Text: White Fragility
.3 Perspex key ring
Text: White privilege
.4 T-shirt
On front:
White Gays TM
On back:
www.whitecopyright.com
Whiteness is consuming
Whiteness is constricting
Whiteness is invisible
Whiteness is empty
Whiteness is sterile
Whiteness is death
Chai Kamrai says of the collection:
Whiteness
I’ve created a brand White Copyright; its aim is to make whiteness available for everyone, whatever that entails. It’s really up to the consumer to form their own interpretation of what that is, what they’re buying.
The purpose of that brand is to make whiteness available to purchase so we’re using the degree show as an opportunity to open a fully-functioning pop-up shop. Our products include White GarmentsTM, White Fragility TapeTM, The White Person BagTM, White SpiritTM, White MatterTM and the White Noise machineTM (which is sold out).
Consumerism
It’s a language we all understand. I see myself as satirising that and, in part, it’s a comment on the art world as well. I looked at brands like Off White, Supreme or Apple – all these hype brands and played with the language of them, creating an aura. I wanted to see what happens when you combine that with a narrative of whiteness.
Fiction and Reality
Art always plays with some kind of fiction. Users have to put themselves into a different logic. It’s a fiction with an underlying truth and it’s very telling how far people choose to take that fiction. With Whiteness Copyright it often depends on the identity of the people buying the products. The White Copyright keyrings are £230.50 but with the IAMNOTWHITE code they’re £5.50. We leave it up to the discretion of the customer whether they want to use that code or not.
I use humour in my everyday life to negotiate things so it’s unsurprising that it shows up in my work. You can defuse the harshness of things with humour. Creating White Copyright has multiple functions but one is definitely negotiating my internalised racism and need to assimilate. It’s a response to those feelings.
Inspirations
In terms of imagery and the use of text, I was inspired by Adrian Piper, the iconic performance artist. She uses text to provoke interrogation of power structures and self-introspection. Texts that I looked to are Jose Estaban Munoz’s Disidentifications and Richard Dyer’s essays Whiteness. Dyer's reading of whiteness as constructed through symbolism and race thoroughly inspired me.
.1 T-shirt
On front:
White Men TM
On back:
www.whitecopyright.com
Whiteness is consuming
Whiteness is constricting
Whiteness is invisible
Whiteness is empty
Whiteness is sterile
Whiteness is death
.2 roll of tape
Text: White Fragility
.3 Perspex key ring
Text: White privilege
.4 T-shirt
On front:
White Gays TM
On back:
www.whitecopyright.com
Whiteness is consuming
Whiteness is constricting
Whiteness is invisible
Whiteness is empty
Whiteness is sterile
Whiteness is death
Chai Kamrai says of the collection:
Whiteness
I’ve created a brand White Copyright; its aim is to make whiteness available for everyone, whatever that entails. It’s really up to the consumer to form their own interpretation of what that is, what they’re buying.
The purpose of that brand is to make whiteness available to purchase so we’re using the degree show as an opportunity to open a fully-functioning pop-up shop. Our products include White GarmentsTM, White Fragility TapeTM, The White Person BagTM, White SpiritTM, White MatterTM and the White Noise machineTM (which is sold out).
Consumerism
It’s a language we all understand. I see myself as satirising that and, in part, it’s a comment on the art world as well. I looked at brands like Off White, Supreme or Apple – all these hype brands and played with the language of them, creating an aura. I wanted to see what happens when you combine that with a narrative of whiteness.
Fiction and Reality
Art always plays with some kind of fiction. Users have to put themselves into a different logic. It’s a fiction with an underlying truth and it’s very telling how far people choose to take that fiction. With Whiteness Copyright it often depends on the identity of the people buying the products. The White Copyright keyrings are £230.50 but with the IAMNOTWHITE code they’re £5.50. We leave it up to the discretion of the customer whether they want to use that code or not.
I use humour in my everyday life to negotiate things so it’s unsurprising that it shows up in my work. You can defuse the harshness of things with humour. Creating White Copyright has multiple functions but one is definitely negotiating my internalised racism and need to assimilate. It’s a response to those feelings.
Inspirations
In terms of imagery and the use of text, I was inspired by Adrian Piper, the iconic performance artist. She uses text to provoke interrogation of power structures and self-introspection. Texts that I looked to are Jose Estaban Munoz’s Disidentifications and Richard Dyer’s essays Whiteness. Dyer's reading of whiteness as constructed through symbolism and race thoroughly inspired me.