Lindsay Goltz
Gucci Bag Gucci Life by Lindsay Goltz
Gucci Bag Gucci Life is a surrealist piece created to highlight the absurdity and abuse of capitalism. Gucci is known as the pinnacle of luxury fashion: a symbol of status among the growing wealth gap. The idea that labels increase the value of a product is a small piece of mythology our society partakes in today. Society walks around freely advertising brands; displaying who they are and what they stand for to others in the process. Luxury brands like Gucci are popular for a few reasons, as some wear them to boast while others use the brand name like a badge of honor. With a growing wealth gap comes absurdly priced material goods; goods that cost much more than their production value at the detriment of the laboring workers. This exploitation is an unavoidable reaction of capitalism, as profits for the CEO’s would shrink if employees were paid sufficiently for their time and labor.
In this 24 in x 20 in piece, an ambiguous person is displayed holding a Gucci shopping bag. Their skin is painted an uneasy pink, textured to display instability and embarrassment. Every other material remains in realistic colors, as the brand is affecting the human condition. Surrounding the person are designer clouds. The atmosphere isn’t untouched by the consumer, as nature conforms to its inhabitants. This emphasizes the destruction that a culture entwined in consumerism and over production has on the planet. The scenery on the Gucci bag parallels this message. In the background there is a building letting off smoke into the beautiful landscape. The brand name cuts off the image, as if it is more important than the nature behind it. The shopping bag acts in a metaphysical and fantastical structure to highlight the reality of the modern age. The figure’s head is literally in the clouds, as they are merely a clog in an all-consuming system.