If anyone could tell me who this photograph is by, I’d really appreciate it.

—

Today I finished the book Buy Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas. What stood out to me, in her book, was the discussion on Generation X’ers and “newstalgia”. She theorizes that Generation X’ers compensate for their lack of a loving childhood (as their mothers were increasingly joining the workforce) and buy their kids what they want. They are also more apt to buy things that were from their own childhood (i.e. Strawberry Shortcake, Carebears, Transformers, Star Wars, etc.) for their own children. Also, parents are pretty much tricked into buying toys and videos labeled as “educational” for babies. There really hasn’t been that much research to show “educational” toys or videos are at all effective for babies. Media shown to children under two mesmerizes and hypnotizes them. That’s why the American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to not let children under two watch T.V..

—

Today, I discovered the work of Jonathan Darby. He uses stencils and Photoshop to make consumer-defined portraits. What makes me most interested about his work (besides the topic) is his process. He paints abstractly and uses layers in his work. It’s very messy (as he also uses spray painting and airbrushing) and the results are Bansky-like.

—

I also looked at JeongMee Yoon’s Pink and Blue Project. She says that her work demonstrates gender identity and association with the colors pink and blue. She also says it’s a commentary on globalization and consumerism.  My initial reaction to her work is “damn, these kids own a lot of stuff”.

—

Well, school starts in a of couple days…