No Campbell’s Soup

Tracy Cilona, Crystal Fosnaugh and Molly Thornton
Featuring Sabrina Kovacs-Storlie, Morgan LaRose, Amanda Laughtland, Amy Losch, Phoebe Moore, and Shea Witzberger

No Campbell’s Soup is a multimedia installation exploring the relationship of food and feminism. Since the 1940’s, the culture surrounding food in America has evolved in myriad ways, causing a shift in women’s roles. The industrialization of food brought with it a promise of convenience and increased food safety for American families, persuading women to introduce canned and processed foods into the home. This revolution in foodstuffs has made convenient meals commonplace, where “liberation” could be defined by putting dinner on the table in five minutes or less. Conversely, alternative food movements are emerging with messages to eat slow, fresh, organic, and local that necessitates a return to time consumptive homemade meals.

The title, No Campbell’s Soup refers to this shift to industrialized foods and back again. It also acknowledges the use of domestic imagery by male Pop artists such as Andy Warhol, who gained fame with his depictions of the Campbell’s tomato soup can at a time when most women avoided domestic images in their art for fear of not being taken seriously as artists. Along with changes in available foodstuffs and the accompanying cultural shifts, societal values about who should eat what, and the truth of who can eat what has transformed as well. Diets are shaped by economic status (price of fast food vs. whole foods), ethics (vegan/vegetarianism), gender roles (salads vs. steaks) and societal beauty standards (miniscule models).

No Campbell’s Soup is inspired by the imagery of Daisies, a Czechoslovakian feminist farce from 1966. This eccentric, abstract film relies on food and eating rituals as symbolic of class, gender stereotypes, sexism, excess and pleasure. The dinner party is surrounded by symbolism of the film, with an ode to feminism and food illustrated by photos, cutouts, and collage of women, food, butterflies, flowers, covering the space.

Our vision sees the nourishment of oneself, family, friends, or community as a feminist act. No Campbell’s Soup is the transformation of a dinner party, fueled by women’s diverse definitions of nourishment and the accompanying rituals and symbols.

Miss Molly Thornton! (DB's first EVER intern!!!)

Nourishment (Molly Thorton)

Molly Thornton

Nourishment (detail)

Nourishment (detail)

Nourishment (detail)

20 Years on a Diet (Tracy Cilona)

20 Years on a Diet (detail)

Morgan LaRose

Morgan LaRose

Crystal Fosnaugh

Amy Losch

Amy Losch

Reactionary Absurdist Party

20 Pounds in Books and Bricks (Tracy Cilona)

20 Pounds in Books and Bricks (detail)

20 Pounds in Books and Bricks (detail)

You Are What You Eat (Sabrina Kovacs-Storlie)

Eating Disordered Napkins (Tracy Cilona)

When asked what events one has proudly participated in over the last five years, most would mutter something about a promotion at work, some sort of commencement at school, or the final payment on some mundane material possession. Miss Oblivious, on the other hand, has spent the last five years in an uninhibited pursuit of those events in life that permeate one with indignant awe.

1,825 Days in Seattle is a collection of photographs taken by Miss Oblivious during her tenure in the Rain City ; during which she was given access to the unique world of Seattle ’s anti-establishment arts. Always with her camera hand, Miss Oblivious is just as comfortable participating in the events as she is photographing them, including creating hand-sewn dolls for performances by Circus Contraption, hosting parlor events at The Seattle Cabaret Festival, adorning Bellydance troupes as tarot cards, and crafting curios for The Can Can cabaret. Beyond the photography of events and performances, are her collection individual portraits that seem to capture the true temperament of her eccentric Seattleite subjects. If there is one event you should proudly participate in, make it 1,825 Days in Seattle.

Curated By DameBuilder

If you are in West Seattle this Thursday, come and check out the Opening Reception of the Unplugged Challenge. The Dames will be there, with wine in hand.

July 14th 6 – 9pm at ArtsWest during West Seattle’s very well attended ArtWalk. Crystal and I collaborated for this show after completing 7 days off from random texting and internet fog….what we came up with, or rather what we were inspired to make was a visual representation of how, when given more free time to create, we found other ways to procrastinate. Instead of being present within a free moment, a possibly creative moment, we struggled with the need to be productive and busy at all costs. Eye opening indeed.

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh) Detail

DB buttons!

Hand painted and stenciled patches!

Embellished and unique!

DB calling cards

FULL SLICE OF PIE: Of Naturalness and Evolution of the Female Body.

Women’s bodies have evolved in such a short period of time:

Natural 70’s tits vs. Implants

Full bushes vs the Barbie pussy

Size 12 vs Size 0

Unique, tan-lined imperfections vs cookie cutter air brushing

Raw and supple vs botox and knee lifts

What cultural, biological, political and economical factors influence women’s choices around their bodies?

Is the confidence a woman carries in her naturalness empowering or has the evolution of the female body from natural to unnatural, made rawness an exotic rarity?

DameBuilder and some of the Full Slice of Pie artists chosen for the exhibit at Twilight Arts Collective are shown below. Thanks to Erin, Mary and Cheryl for the opportunity. Those girls are badass.

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

DB Full Slice of Pie Patches

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

Noa Piper

Hillary Gore

Marilyn Artus

Molly Mattsen

Janine Pierce

Installation View.

Image by DameBuilder

SQUAT

Presented by DameBuilder and Twilight Arts Collective at The Georgetown Stables, January 8th, 2010 Curated by DameBuilder

The human figure at once fierce and towering, then primal in her natural and private spaces. Whether it is squatting to pee, squatting to work, give birth, have sex, or squatting to pounce and attack. It’s instinct. It‘s thighs. It’s animal.

Squatting is a position that can represent a fear, lower class, position of power, strength, connection to the earth, sexuality, dirtiness, birth, hiding and meditation.

Squat was inspired by Anya Janssen’s painting, “The Fickless of Mother Nature” and the photograph, “Edith, Danville, Virginia, 1971″ by Emmet Gowen.

Edith, Danville, Virginia, 1971 Emmet Gowan

The Fickleness of Mother Nature – Anya Janssen

DameBuilder Collaboration (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

Alex Miller

AKAK

Crystal Fosnaugh

Tracy Cilona

Kelli’s Starlight Wishes

DameBuilder collaboration at The Market Theater Gallery -The Decrepit Cabaret Curated by Miss Oblivious, (now Kook Tephlon).

DameBuilder Collaboration (detail)

While the contemporary feminist art movement raised the questions of gender and genius, elevating women’s validity in the art world, we continue to see a need to question the idea of gender and artistic practice and the political implications of making time and taking space to do “what women artists do”. For most of us the allocation of time to create art comes at great personal and economic sacrifice.

How is creativity neglected and/or sustained?

Amy Ellen Flatchestedmama Trefsger

Lilyan George

Crystal Fosnaugh (DameBuilder)

Sarah Browning

Stephanie Holltum

Tracy Cilona

Kook Tephlon (Formally Miss Oblivious)

Margot Bird

Angielena Chamberlain

DameBuilder (Tracy Cilona and Crystal Fosnaugh)

Kathryn Hightower Video Collaboration

Margot Bird

Crystal Fosnaugh

Christine Heidel

Christine Heidel