Brian Ulrich

Kenosha, WI, 2003 (Spilled Milk)

2003

Chicago-based artist Brian Ulrich documents the shopping habits of Americans in his incisive photographic series Copia. Ulrich sees the series as an exercise in social anthropology that documents common conditioned behavior and examines its political implications. Copia began in 2001 when, he explains, "citizens were encouraged to take to the malls to boost the U.S. economy through shopping, thereby equating consumerism with patriotism." Kenosha, WI, 2003 (Spilled Milk) (2003), part of the series, shows a highly organized convenience store with packs of consumer goods separated into structured groupings, which surround a milk spill. The milk indicates human presence in the midst of the efficient artificiality of contemporary shopping environments. While serving as a reflection on the bizarre consumer attitudes of Americans, the image also reveals a sense of familiarity and empathy, bringing attention to Americans' role in generating and maintaining a culture of over-consumption and waste.