Artist Launches New Series to Show How Mindless Consumption Drains Our Planet

Barcelona, Spain, July 01, 2021 --(PR.com)-- Sifting through millions of items in a fake shopping spree on Amazon, Barcelona-based visual artist Stefanie Herr compiled a bizarre assortment of twelve products to become the centerpieces of her latest project. "Wasteland" renders a selection of cheap consumer goods as abstract contour models. Their negative shapes resemble the terraced topography of open-cast mines, where earth gets removed in successive layers to extract rock or minerals. “Sadly, these heavily exploited, residual landscapes constitute the counter-spaces of the mountains of things we produce for consumption,” the artist explains.

There are currently some 18 million products being sold on Amazon. The amount of natural resources extracted for the production of these − often only briefly used and prematurely discarded − goods is steadily increasing. Herr’s curated product selection aims at encouraging consumers to rethink their shopping behavior and stop buying cheap stuff to prevent or decrease environmental damage.

Unlike their mass-produced counterparts, Herr’s layered compositions − cut entirely by hand − remain firmly rooted in craftsmanship. Using only white paper as a medium in the making of "Wasteland," her unique pieces stand in stark contrast to the garish plastic products they are modeled after.

This way, the artworks not only allude to the destructive nature of rampant consumerism, but also evoke the idea of a world without objects. It is in their absence that the cheap items suddenly appear imbued with beauty. “We must consume less and make smarter purchasing decisions, if we truly want to halt environmental degradation and drive meaningful change,” the artist points out.

Stefanie Herr is a German visual artist who mainly creates hybrid artworks through a combined use of sculpture and photography. Drawing inspiration from maps, charts, and graphs, the topographic condition of her artworks reflects the artist’s continuing preoccupation with environmental and landscape change. The appropriation and commodification of nature are recurring themes encountered in her artistic creations. For more information, visit www.stefanieherr.com