For this project, I began with a photo I took of a Taco Bell and combined it with multiple classical architectural elements. Some of these elements included a dome from my local museum and columns from a Roman building. I attempted to transform this fast-food restaurant into a hybrid monument or temple. By placing these monumental forms onto this consumer building, this work is critiques how consumption has become almost a ritual of modern times. Taco Bell / fast food is elevated to a site of devotion. This reflects how consumerism in today's times is treated with reverence once reserved for sacred architecture.
https://flic.kr/p/dMJfcJ
Ron Cogswell, Senate Building - U.S. Capitol Washington (DC) January 2013
Changes were made.
CC BY 2.0
I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons
Changes were made.
CC BY-SA 3.0
Owhl-stock
Changes were made.
CC BY 3.0
_01.JPG){kind=link}
The work created by Aidan Stanford and currently untitled is a digital composite image that blends commercial architecture with historical elements. It is a photograph of a person, wearing normal ordinary clothes, walking into Taco Bell at a head on level. The Taco Bell is surrounded by buses on both sides and two pillars one on the left and one on the right standing adjacent to the doors with lights attached to them, beaming down, slightly illuminating the pillars. On the window of the Taco Bell there is a poster on the inside facing the outside with a girl offering a taco to the viewer, with big bold letters just along the bottom of the poster telling us to “Worship The Food” and in the top left corner there is smaller text but in an iridescent colorway spelling out the word “y2k”. On top of the Taco Bell building you can see historical elements being incorporated into the main building with a domed neoclassical structure similar to that of Roman architecture (e.g the Pantheon). This creates a great contrast in the flat, bleak utilitarian architecture the Taco Bell has.
ReplyDeleteThis composite seems to be a juxtaposition between high culture and consumerism. The artist is merging two different architectural aesthetics, one that shows greatness, richness and historical importance (the neoclassical architecture), and one that shows affordability, identicality, and fast-paced consumer behavior (Taco Bell). This consumerism behavior is being shown with the poster saying “Worship The Food” and the person casually just walking into the building. The symbolism is strong. By placing a symbol of ancient civilization atop a Taco Bell, the artist may be trying to show how modern American culture places value on mass production and convenience, while simultaneously getting rid of historical aesthetics due to convenience, money and time efficiency. The Taco Bell logo itself becomes ironic in this context. Bells in that era were used as a way to alert others of times, events, ceremonies, but now it's a symbol everyone recognizes as Taco Bell. By having that neoclassical architecture on top of it, it creates another juxtaposition with the ways people communicate with us.
On a technical level, the composite is strong. The dome has been convincingly integrated into the Taco Bell structure. The lighting, perspective, and shadow matching between the original photo and the architectural overlay are handled well. There is no jarring shift in quality or resolution between elements, which adds to the believability of the image. More importantly, the work succeeds in fulfilling the assignment's guidelines. It creates a new meaning by visually interrogating the relationship between architecture, commerce, and culture. It’s asking viewers to consider how commercial symbols are repurposed when combined with historical things. The contrast between the classical architecture and the commercial triviality of a fast food restaurant is the core of the message, and it comes through effectively.
This artwork by Aidan Standford mixes old and new architecture by placing a fancy, classical dome on top of a modern bleak Taco Bell. It's well put together and uses familiar buildings to explore big ideas like how modern businesses are inspired from history, how design changes over time, and what happens when we take things out of their original context. The piece makes you think about how we reuse old styles in today’s world, and it uses humor and contrast to start a deeper conversation about culture.