Branded and on Display

Ours is a culture defined by marketing and acquiring. Virtually every activity in our lives is experienced through purchases, from layettes to caskets. The landscape is studded with logos, brand names, and billboards. Branded and On Display examines the work of artists who explore specific strategies of branding and presentation in their response to this pervasively commoditized environment. Representing a range of media - sculpture, video, installation, sound, painting, and photography - the work is compelling and provocative, nudging us to "re-view" our culture with an appraising eye.

There is an exhilarating range of concerns and media represented by artists Ai Weiwei, Conrad Bakker, Amy Barkow, Ashley Bickerton, Michael Blum, Louis Cameron, Diller + Scofidio, Terence Gower, Laurie Hogin, Pierre Huyghe, Clay Ketter, Ryan McGinness, Donna Nield, Haim Steinbach, Tempi & Wolf, Yuken Teruya, Hank Willis Thomas, Brian Ulrich, Siebren Versteeg, and Zhao Bandi.

Daniel Thomas Cook is a sociologist of advertising and communication at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nine stories by Dung Kai-cheung, an author and teacher of creative writing in Hong Kong, were translated by Winnie Won Yin Wong. Other contributors include Ginger Gregg Duggan, Judith Hoos Fox, Cele C. Otnes, and Linda M. Scott.