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Matéa LeBeau 


wilsonistheworst

hand poked tattoos
in Ithaca, NY

                                                       




I Went To New York (I Love New York City)

I Went To New York




2020

I Went To New York (I Love New York City)

A lot of fabric, time
5’ 4” h x 7’ w

I Went To New York

Pre-dyed fabric, thread
34”  x 40”


I wanted to address themes of capitalism and the consumerist culture the Lady Liberty monument has encouraged. The Statue of Liberty has become more of an idol of tourism rather than of American ideals or philosophies. In response to that idea, I recreated the iconic Lady Liberty foam crown you can buy at gift shops out of fabric and stuffing, and made it larger than life, it’s about 34” x 40”, to emphasize the ridiculousness of the object and the irony of what the statue has become – a monument to visit in order to profit off of people. The materiality of the sculpture also comments on how stuffy America’s philosophies on access to freedom truly are that the statue, and the nation itself, claim to stands for (but never have).

To elaborate further on the presence of tourism in New York, I also made a comically oversized “I <3 NY” shirt (5ft x 7ft) in hopes of sparking dialogue between the viewer and fast fashion capitalist markets in which the item typically functions. Both items have price tags marked at $5 and $10 respectively, forcing the audience to consider how symbols of New York, and America, continue to exploit fast fashion laborers at the expense of over production and environmental decay.