[ISEA2000] Poster: ANTHONY KIENDL – Fluffy

Poster Statement

The subject of the research of Anthony Kiendl is the representation of cuteness in the context of globalization and new technologies. Part of the research took the form of an investigative art exhibitlon entitled Fluffy, with eighteen contemporary artists from Japan, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States, presented at the Dunlop Art Gallery in Canada. Just as postmodern theory has reinvested nostalgia and sentimentality with ‘legitimate’ meaning, the dominant narrative of this investigation is to re-address conventional understandings of cuteness. It examined cuteness as a cultural signifier, and the strong reactions induced by objects which are plush, soft, fluffy or cule. Fluffy is a critical project which examines how an aesthetic affects our understanding of the people and products around us, and how cultural values inform often unexamined perceptions.