HL Essay

Focus/thesis: How does Barbara Kruger’s artworks successfully inspire to transform

women’s mentality and identity through positive ideas of consumerism?

Barbara Kruger is an American conceptual artist who was born on January 26,
1945. She lived in an era known for the 2nd wave of feminism which focuses on issues
of inequalities and discrimination in the 1960s till the 1980s (A. Tara, 2018). It was
evident the presence of a view which objectifies women’s identity during those times. As
a feminist artist, Kruger was infamous for her perfected signature agitprop style, using
black-and-white photographic images juxtaposed with ironic aphorisms, printed in
Futura Bold typeface against black, white, or deep red text bars (Guggenheim, 2023). It
was her weapon for striking down the cultural assumptions of 2nd wave feminism, by
creating controversial pieces that represent her voice. One of the issues which Kruger’s
works
consumerism emphasize is consumerism. (M. Naomi, 2020). (Apparently, women of the 2nd
is... (citation)
wave feminism were entrapped in a toxic consumerism behavior and mindset.)
how? why?
During this era, fashion was apparently deemed as an appropriate solution to
counteract the existing patriarchal view. It was associated with wealth and femininity,
social and sexual liberation, and utilized as a media to reassert dominance (F. Caroline,
2017). Hence, it is no surprise that women during these times were bonded to the toxic
consumerism mindset; women’s identity was associated with products that can visually
upgrade their value. This led to the excessive spending on materialistic goods,
especially by women. Witnessing such an issue firsthand, Kruger was determined to
obliterate the toxic consumerism mindset of the 2nd wave feminism (M. Naomi, 2020).
This essay will further analyze how Kruger’s artworks successfully inspire to transform
women’s mentality and identity through positive ideas of consumerism.
for the purpose of
 money-context cosumerism
love- toxic mindset

“Money can buy you love (1985)”

size material year
In 1985, as an attempt to break down the toxic consumerism mindset, Kruger
produced an artwork titled “Money can buy you love”. It is fairly simple with a young girl
in the monochromatic background, positioned underneath the writing “Money can buy
you love”. Immediately, reader’s attention will be directed to the writing due to the huge
font size of the words “Money” and “love”. Moreover, both these words are something
imperative in the lives of many individuals, further drawing the attention of the readers.
juxtaposed - toungue out mocking
ironic aphorism
Another technique of Kruger’s is the design of the background that is
monochromatic. This is Kruger’s tactic of “direct address” by avoiding a high degree of
why little girl?
vintage? complexity in her work, forcing readers to easily capture the main idea of the artwork (H.
-collage
educate Bob, 2017). This results in the establishment of a simplistic tone, not standing out and
acting as a support to re-highlight the cruciality of the writing. message
the simplistic tone, vintage monochromatic background focusing on the portrait of a young teenage girl combined with the collage conc
for its message,
In life, there’s a famous phrase which is “Money can’t buy you happiness nor
Inspired by "Money..... nor love", Kruger authentically modified to generate "Money can buy you love" (R. amada,2013)
love”. Kruger was inspired by that saying and decided to modify it slightly, hence
generating “Money can buy you love” (R. Amanda, 2013). When dissected deeper, this
catchphrase actually contains an underlying message. The audience tends to reminisce
about that old-age phrase when reading this text. Hence, a satirical effect is established
because despite saying “can”, Kruger’s actual goal is to make women realize that
Kruger deliberately juxtapose the type of the negative sentence of the original message into a positive sentence.
This suggests stronger affirmative tone confirming that females can..... through the diction "can"
 consuming “can’t” buy them the happiness and love that they desire. This serves to pull
women out from the pit of toxic consumerism behavior.
direct speech condemning women as the target of this artwok, in criticizing their belief that
Furthermore, Kruger implements the usage of pronouns to represent the toxic
consumerism mindset of women during the 2nd wave feminism. From the pronoun
“you”, Kruger head-on points fingers to women as the target of this artwork. By doing
so, she refers to women’s mentality, which has conformed to the( belief that the only
method to receive love is by spending money on products, as something worth noticing.)
The said mentality drives women to spend on materialistic goods, attaching their identity
based onto products that they purchase. Hence, the pronoun “you” strives to call out to
women, encouraging them to notice and take action.

To enhance the satirical effect, Kruger places an image of a young girl at the
background who has her eyes squinted, tongue out, and is making a hand gesture. The
squinted eyes resembled annoyance, depicting Kruger’s thoughts and feelings
regarding women’s consumerism behavior. The tongue and hand gesture, on the other
hand, symbolizes mockery. By using a young girl, the mockery indicates a childish and
foolish way of thinking, pushing women to transform their consumerism mindset and
mentality. Furthermore, it also suggests that such an issue should be educated to
children from a young age. This has a purpose to prevent further development of the
toxic consumerism mindset in the future.
 “I shop therefore I am (1987)”

Sticking on the issue of consumerism, created in 1987 is one of Kruger’s most

iconic artworks, “I shop therefore I am”. Its monochromatic background is blurred with a
hand stretching out, emphasizing the white card which is held up with writings in red
that says “I shop therefore I am.” This catchphrase of her’s was inspired by the French
philosopher, Rene Descartes, who stated “I think therefore I am.” Borrowing such a
statement, Kruger aims to criticize society as individuals were no longer defined by what
they think, but rather by what they own (Public Delivery, 2020). As mentioned
previously, women during these times often associate their value and identity with
materialistic possessions. Hence, the pronoun “I” was utilized to target women upfront
as an audience.

Furthermore, Kruger uses repetition in the phrases “I shop” and “I am”, enabling
audiences to easily digest the message of the artwork. It suggests that women’s identity
is gauged based on the products they buy as the word “am” indicates identity, while
“shop” symbolizes consumerism. The two phrases are then connected by the word
“therefore” which is written in a smaller size. This creates a pausing effect when reading
the text as a whole, encouraging women as readers to self-reflect on the toxic
consumerism behavior they indulge in.
 Aside from that the bright and strong red color gives off a sense of urgency,
warning women to take action regarding the issue at hand. The writing is also
positioned on top of a white rectangle which is approximately the size of an id card.
Combined with the gesture of the hand, Kruger utilizes such details to impersonate a
woman’s hand holding up an id card, declaring that her identity is in accordance with
what is written on the card. This emphasizes the existence of the toxic consumerism
mindset.

“I Shop Therefore I am (1993 on Vincon shopping bags)”

The marketing of the artwork, however, was key to the successful spreading of
the message. It was reproduced in commercial products, for instance, on Vincon
department store’s shopping bags in 1993 (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002). But the
red and white color of the artwork design were switched for aesthetic purposes. Being
reproduced on Vincon’s shopping bags, a famous brand during that era, enlarged the
accessibility of the artwork along with its messages to a wider audience, particularly
women. As a result, the artwork becomes more effective in transforming the
consumerism mindset of women during the second wave feminism.
 “Can money buy you love? (2011)”

- Green background = symbolize money

- Red color = symbolize love and urgency
- Writing in all capital letters to put importance on the writing
- Rhetorical question = effect of self-reflecting and pondering
- Inspired by increasing consumerism expenditure in 2011.
- Put in mall in 2016 because beverly hill has a lot of citizens with good economies
and jobs
- Wider scope of audience: Not only women but men

Jumping quite far after, in 2011, Kruger designed another artwork which could be
considered a reminder for the toxic consumerism mindset. Turns out, the trend of
consumerism began to soar again in 2011, as average annual expenditures per
consumer unit also rose by 3.3 percent (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). It is
titled “Can money buy you love?” with red framing, green background, and white
writings. Apparently, in 2011, the trend of consumerism began to rise again. There are
no pictures in the work and the writings are all written in huge font sizes with capital
letters. This indicates that the main element of this artwork would be the writings. It
functions to attract readers’ attention when observing the work.

A unique technique being implemented in this artwork is the use of a rhetorical

question. When reading the writing, the audience is then led to a moment of
self-reflecting and self pondering in hope that they can realize the toxic environment
they are trapped in.As so, Kruger aims to transform the consumerism mindset of women
even in the 21st century. This is one proof that her creations are timeless. Furthermore,
if observed closely, the word “money” has a bigger font size compared to “love”. It
shows how in this consumer-driven society, money rules over everything. Additionally,
this represents women’s identity which measures themselves with their own materialistic
possessions.
 Moving on, the background has a green color. The green color symbolizes the
American dollar, which is one of the most influential and powerful currencies worldwide.
It simply works to attract the attention of customers because in such a consumer-driven
society, people definitely care about the amount of money they have. This highlights
how corrupt the society is. On the other hand, the color red represents heart or love.
The not so bright color suggests that due to the toxic consumerism behavior, money is
most likely located inside the heart of many individuals. Again, this emphasizes the
defected society.

“Can money buy you love (2016 on Beverly Center)

Instead of putting it into commercial products, Kruger’s artwork was

adopted into one of the most famous shopping centers back in 2016. It was put
on the frontside of Beverly Center. Evidently, the city (Beverly Hills), was
populated with rich people back in 2016. Moreover, the majority of the population
have white-collar jobs. This stability and superb economic condition of the city led
to an increased consumerism rate in Beverly Hills. Hence, the writing is placed
on the mall to act as a reminder to everyone that is about to enter the mall. By
doing so, Kruger aims to reduce society’s expenditure and transform the
women’s consumerism mindset.

Aside from that, the fact that this is placed on the frontside of a stopping
mall suggests that Kruger has widened her scope of audience. In other words,
the shopping mall isn’t designed specifically for women. Men are allowed to enter
the mall as well. Furthermore, the superb economic condition of Beverly Hills led
to a significant increase in society’s spending. Hence, being placed in front of a
shopping center signals that Kruger is also targeting male. She wants to
transform a more global audience, both men and female.
Sources

Focus of 2nd wave of feminism

https://www.gale.com/primary-sources/womens-studies/collections/second-wave-feminism#:~:text=The%
20second%20wave%20feminism%20movement,spread%20to%20other%20Western%20countries.

Brief summary of 2nd wave of feminism

https://feminisminindia.com/2018/04/25/summary-second-wave-of-feminism/

Kruger’s work examine stereotypes and consumerism

http://www.artnet.com/artists/barbara-kruger/

“I Shop Therefore I Am”

https://publicdelivery.org/barbara-kruger-i-shop/

Publish Date of “I Shop Therefore I Am” on shopping bags

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72123/i-shop-therefore-i-am-carrier-bag-kruger-barbara/

Publish date of “Can money buy you love” on Beverly Centre

https://wwd.com/feature/beverly-center-announces-latest-round-of-artists-for-temporary-installations-1087
1792-10871792/

“Vincon”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/01/barcelonas-iconic-furniture-store-vincon-closes-after-74-y
ears-of-trading

“History of Vincon”
https://www.vincon.com/en/history-of-vincon/

“Fashion & Identity”

https://medium.com/@8360866/history-second-wave-feminism-and-its-fashion-bacd2f0a463b

Commentary on Kruger focusing on issues of consumerism

https://magazine.artland.com/female-iconoclasts-barbara-kruger/#:~:text=Kruger's%20distinctive%20and
%20graphic%20artworks,relationship%20between%20power%20and%20society.

Kruger’s specialty techniques and trademarks

https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/artist/barbara-kruger
AP Research on “Money can buy you love”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zjPXuS8jcV5Gien58m3TO-4C414tvxtrUQ0JQpGjal4/preview?hgd=
1

Emilie Kalinowski on “Money can buy you love”

https://mackenziekesmith.wordpress.com/the-history-of-photography-4/

Kruger’s purpose of using black and white color

https://www.colourstudies.com/blog/2017/11/23/whats-black-and-white-and-read-all-over