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Spent and Consumed
Collection:UAL Art Collection
Date: 2023
Artist: Matthew Emery (British)
Dimensions:
245 x 245cm
Medium: Silkscreen ink on etched steel
Object number: UAC 1118
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DescriptionMatthew studied MA Fine Art: Printmaking at Camberwell College of Arts. He says:
'The work is centred around the Gramscian notion of “Common Sense”, which is a critique of the capitalist values that undermine and exploit workers into exhaustion in the pursuit of success. The idea of ‘pulling oneself up by the bootstraps’, suggests that in a just capitalist system, those who work the hardest are those who achieve, and those without success deserve their impoverished state. This of course is not the world we inhabit, and capitalism does not work in such a way. The imagery is made up from 9 screen prints upon steel, that portray the exploitation of workers with regards to the unfair exertion of their labour power, as capitalism profits from their hardships.'
'The work is centred around the Gramscian notion of “Common Sense”, which is a critique of the capitalist values that undermine and exploit workers into exhaustion in the pursuit of success. The idea of ‘pulling oneself up by the bootstraps’, suggests that in a just capitalist system, those who work the hardest are those who achieve, and those without success deserve their impoverished state. This of course is not the world we inhabit, and capitalism does not work in such a way. The imagery is made up from 9 screen prints upon steel, that portray the exploitation of workers with regards to the unfair exertion of their labour power, as capitalism profits from their hardships.'