I picked up a LIFE magazine from the 1950s a while ago, and I was intrigued by the sweet slogan of General Electrics: "Live Better Electrically." Well yeah! Sounds ridiculous first but then - everybody is going insane when a power outage is happening.
So, I thought it would be interesting to make the slogan the theme of this piece. I used a page from "Audels' Wiring Diagrams" to tell the story of a single mother. The page is titled "Methods of Overload Protection," how fitting. I have aligned the mom, the baby, and the taking-off dad with the lines of the diagrams to establish connections between them, even though or because they seem to be detached and disengaged with each other.
Notice that the lines of the purse strap and of the car continue. The baby is holding on to a horizontal line where it says "current transformers," while the other hand is grabbing the edge of the page. Next to the single mother are the words "Single Phase Circuit." Meanwhile, the father is exiting the page leaving behind the words "Two Phase." An arrow-like symbol is pointing towards "Love."
I didn't add any shadows because these people are not really grounded. Stability can be seen in the globe that is orderly placed into a universe; the three small circles may be moons or planets.
"Live Better Electrically"
Mixed media: acrylics, page from vintage Wiring Diagrams book, clippings from storybooks, old dictionary, and 50's LIFE magazine, on cradled wood panel, 10"x10"
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