Klaus Mertens The Skin of Consumption Performance, Osecina, 2017

Plastic Bags, Models, Pool, Sunshine

I was grown up in the fifties and sixties of the last century when the age of plastic starts to develop. Using the first created dishes from plastic material in my childhood I was attracted by its fresh appearance of a bright and shiny skin and its brilliant colours. At that time it symbolised a new time of prosperity and wealth after world war second. "Bright” new world. Since than plastic became the most produced material ever. Nowadays we are all facing the terrible consequences of its production and we find micro plastic even in the food. Its wasting our planet.

Using this daily materials like plastic bags showing the patterns of consumption and advertising I`m following the tracks of Pop Art which coincidentally in the fifties and sixties started its age of its tremendous success. Pop Art created mostly images of an optimistic view into the future and a naive approach to the new “bright" world but also reacted to Vietnam and racisms as well.
At our time we lost the optimistic and naive approach. My work decrypt the social codes in Design, Fashion and consumption.