For as long as there has been recorded history, there has been advertising. And yes — without getting into the history, nuances and varying viewpoints on what, exactly, constitutes advertising — it is still, in essence, a rich and fundamental practice, designed intricately and expertly to activate our most basic human desires and fears. Is that not, at its core, an art form? For Taylor Chapin, questions like the one above persist.
That is, by having the figure embracing this object, almost sensually, Chapin is showing the viewer that as much as we’d love to think that wealth and accumulation don’t define who we are as people, they are often the most important relationship we have. “I think about that a lot and there’s so much emotion in it as well; how we love that pair of shoes the most and how that couch we bought is so important,” Chapin says. “But the couch doesn’t give a about you. It’s a one-way relationship.