The impetus for Artist's By Emily [sic] was a desire to imitate a form related to the circulation of money so that it would pass through it, and that I would confront it, as I confronted myself in the role of entrepreneur in the context on my artistic practice. With this store I attempted to work with this structure as I would a material, rather than in direct opposition, outside, or within its form. While this work proceeded many artist’s stores, Claes Oldenburg’s, The Store, also called Ray Gun, had the most direct influence on the structure of it’s formation. The “plays” and “incidents” Claes held in his store were titled after things that might happen in any ordinary store such as “A customer enters”. The titles of these plays functioned as a framework for the activities, paintings, and the conceptual and physical day-to-day operation, of Artist’s By Emily [sic]. One was free to shop at any time. Everything on the table, in and around the drawers, was for sale (found art supplies and supposed art related objects i. e. berets). Nothing had a set price. When making a purchase, one needed only leave the amount of money they considered the item to be worth.
I addressed the surface of my store as a container for tools of artistic production. I did not do this by decorating its exterior with directly representative images of what was inside because the contents were in constant circulation. Instead, I used emblems directly from the packaging that homogenize the surface as a sign for a wholesome or satisfactory interior. For example, the Quaker from Quaker Oats is assigned to the surface of my store and is featured on the surrounding wall as well, painted over the face of King Henry the Eighth. He is pale and overweight and in plain dress like a conservative Quaker. A fat cat Quaker, a sign of assurance of home cooking and good health, that the food is simple and useful. The figureheads of the college president, Quaker Oats Quaker, and King Henry the Eighth, intimidated the signs for the contained, and thus intimidated the purpose of the store. I made my face the face of the president. I made Quaker Oats the king. I made the king a farce. I stole the face of the director. I simultaneously put on and took off these figureheads by dressing, undressing, and addressing them as both emblems and decorations, and as outfits for myself.
The value of the cardboard in the store was assigned as it was utilized as a container and visualized as a sculpture. Cardboard is readily available as it is the casing in at least one stage of the exchange of most consumables. I am interested in its composite structure of multiple sources of paper products that have been processed multiple times.
The profits from the store were put towards the purchase of a fancy suit for myself which was worn on the evening of my graduation from college.
