YOU ARE WHAT YOU BUY by Miss K was a yearlong interdisciplinary project that took place in a supermarket linking art to commerce. The project aims to question the effects of consumption on us the buyers and assess further the blurred line between ‘consumption’ and ‘consumerism’. In order to study such economic mechanisms both research and final presentation were set in a supermarket in Malta - Park Towers Supermarkets, St Venera.
This research culminated in a collaboration involving a large group of people: clients, researchers, a visual artist, a social anthropologist, a dramaturg and a group of performers. The findings were translated into six illustrated paintings, each featuring a slogan and installed in one of the lifts at the supermarket. For Mahalla Kristina chose ‘Aisle Fit’, questioning on one hand the purpose and function of the supermarket space, and on the other the conscious or unconscious choices we make when selecting brands and products. What statement do I want to make?
These six slogan-works were also screen-printed as a limited collection of T-shirts and tote bags that were brought to life through performance art. A number of pop-up pieces were devised for the supermarket setting and presented for one whole week in March 2017 following the opening hours of the supermarket. These took place in different parts of the three levels of the supermarket with the performers reacting to and interacting with the space, products as well as the clients.
This journey was complemented with a publication in the form of an artist’s book.