Intervention II: Cotton

This artwork consists of a two channel video and a pile of cotton pads which have transformed into cotton wool in the process of handwash. In order to create this work I photographed dirty cotton pads which I had used in removing make-up, and then I recorded the process of washing and drying these cotton pads. This act was an intervention to the conventional way to use cotton pads. Usually I draw a cotton pad from a package, use it for removing make-up off my face and toss it into a bin without pondering the origin and lifecycle of the cotton in the pads. Instead of this I used cotton pads as a subject and material in an artwork. This artwork draws attention into the consumption of daily commodities and the waste of disposables. 

In this artwork pictures of dirty cotton pads are shifting slowly and used cotton pads are washed and dried in a two channel video. A pile of fragmented cotton pads are on a pedestal in front of the video. The audio of the video is based on the natural sound from processing the used cotton pads.

Intervention II: Cotton was on display at my solo exhibition titled as Consumer Intervention (B-galleria, Turku) during November 2020. That exhibition was an artistic intervention to my consumption, and the beginning of becoming aware of how my consumption habits influence the world and what kind of problems are associated with it. Through my artworks, I explore my consumption habits, my beauty products and clothes, and look at myself as a part of the global market economy. I interrupt my normal consumption behavior by making an inventory of my wardrobe and by storing and washing the cotton pads I use in removing make-up. Doing otherwise moves me away from the usual ways and opens up new perspectives. What kind of a world do I help build with my consumption choices? Is it possible to act otherwise in a capitalist society, and what could be a meaningful way for me?