Jennifer Bucheit

AGAIN and AGAIN: A Reflection on Consumer Culture

Humans are creatures of habit: we eat, we drink, we work, we play, we sleep, we wake up the next day—and do it all again. Along the way we invent and manufacture an abundance of products for purchase and consumption, generating remarkable amounts of waste as we attempt to make our daily living as convenient as possible.

Again & Again: A Reflection on Consumer Culture is a fine art photographic series that presses the pause button on our incessant cycles of contemporary consumption. Due to its significant contribution to global gas emissions, paper waste is used as a case study for the project: after use, but before hitting the landfill, paper packaging is collected, deconstructed, and photographed in a still life setting. These images are digitally composited and then printed directly back onto the interior side of the original packaging itself.

The repurposed paper waste provides a moment of visual clarity, presenting material evidence of habitual consumer behavior intertwined with the human condition. Photographic language of formal abstraction, layering and repetitive compositional elements, reinforce the manufactured nature of the subject matter; while random textures, torn edges and smeared inks, evoke reminders of paper’s organic origins.

Both aesthetically engaging and socially revealing, this series challenges conventional ideas of what we consider art, and what we consider expendable; offering an opportunity to reflect on the environmental consequences of our present-day consumption, while simultaneously retaining hope in the extraordinary capacity of human ingenuity.

The final presentation features post-consumer packaging as both a primary subject matter and as a photographic printing substrate. The 16 variable limited-editioned pigment prints range in size from approximately 8.5” x 8.5” to 14” x 18.75” unframed. The exhibit presentation displays the images in 21”x 25” custom-designed double-sided rotating frames mounted the wall, allowing the viewer to contemplate both the front and backside of each photograph.

Leftovers

The images and collages from the series Leftovers are singlular photographic works derived from maerials used to produce the primary series "Again & Again." These images extend the dialog of production, consumption, and recycling introduced in the primary photogaphs and could be considered companion pieces to the main body of work.

Jennifer Bucheit is a fine art photographer living in Wisconsin. She grew up in Iowa and received a BA in Journalism and BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Iowa and her MFA in Photography from Academy of Art University. Her work has been exhibited widely in the Wisconsin area as well as in juried national exhibitions. She is the recipient of several photography awards including Juror’s Award of Merit in the 2013 International Fine Art Photography competition.

Her background in both design and narrative fields continues to inform the photographic imagery she creates today. Her work is rooted in the visual language of abstraction and formal experimentation that pushes the boundaries of the art form in new directions. Yet within her dynamic compositions lay recognizable everyday content that comments on issues surrounding consumerism in today’s society.

Bucheit firmly believes in the photographic medium, over any other, to provide her viewers with a gratifying visual experience that simultaneously reflects on our contemporary human condition.

Again & Again images are pigment prints printed on Post-Consumer Substrate. Image sizes and editions vary due to packaging. Prices range from $900 to $1300. Images can be framed in a rotating wood frame with conservation acrylic for an additional $500.

Leftovers images are either unique prints printed on Post-Consumer Substrate, or unique mixed media collage on various substrates. Prices range from $800 to $1200.

Please call: (312) 266-2350 for prices of specific pieces.
Prices are print only unless otherwise indicated.