Flip like Betye Saar
Betye Saar’s sculptures and dioramas are made up of a combination of found objects and debris – many of which are linked to the most diabolical parts of American history.
They often consist of racist iconography with links to the slave trade – the stuff that at best makes us feel awkward, and at worst angry at the world.
However, she uses her art practice to flip, re-contextualise and re-constitute the objects into something that makes us think, something that becomes powerful and uniting, something that can become a weapon.
Racist idols become revolutionaries
Banal objects become meaningful
Objet d’resistance
In advertising and marketing, the opportunity for flipping or recontextulising is rife.
Consider the flaws in the category or that mundanity of the product, the tragicaly bizarre predictability of consumer behaviour, the cruelty and disparity within culture and the world writ large.
They can all be used to great effect when creatively isolated and reimagined.
Here’s some examples I prepared earlier…
The humble mannequin, perhaps the most banal feature of shopping precincts the world over – a blank, featureless elevated coathanger.
CALM used them to represent each of the 84 men that commit suicide every week in the UK. So dark. So powerful.
The Payphone Bank created a method for the 8 million Columbians who can’t access banking, to pay bills, buy essential appliances and build up credit.
All thanks to the “dead tech” of 13,000 phone booths and the shrapnel that the Columbians on the breadline earn every week.
Marmite are perhaps most famous for flipping their biggest percieved weakness into their biggest, and most memorable marketing strength.
So much so that having the properties of “Marmite” has now entered the vernacular.
Finally, a personal favourite 🐐 ad for me from Peugeot.
The absolute genius to create a scenario wherein someone flips their less desirable car into a Peugeot – with the help of an elephant and an absolute banger of a tune.
Do you have a favourite ad that flipped the script?
Drop a comment, send a reply – and I’ll share next time.
Thanks for reading,
Jonathan ✌️
She’s a total Betye
Want to hear more about Betye Saar’s magic? Check out this episode of Kunst Please