New show, up at Zach Feuer (opening is tonight). More info, and images:
In “Deluxe”, Hawkins collaborates with local artisans in Kolkata, India to build handcrafted props modeled after luxury items found in elite vacation resorts.
Constructed to be oversized, with distorted proportions, and placed in sparse environs, Hawkins enacts impromptu public performances with her props that reference a global divide of waste and wealth. Upon photographing the live scenarios, the raw materials from the resort sets are then dissembled and recycled back into the host communities as carpets, tables, tents, or insulation. The realm of the elite is re-contextualized, resituated, and rebuilt with the hands of many.
I know, this political stuff is often lame, but Hawkins is interesting, I think, because of the light whisper of surreality in the work.
