HOVERING GROCERY SHOPPING ASSISTANT WITH LEATHER HAND LEAD, 2009
by Patrick Strattner
Part satire on mass consumerism, part would-be shopping catalogue—and entirely amusing—Contender Patrick Strattner's series PROTOTYPES features absurdist inventions for the commercially obsessed. Need a portable armpit dryer? A battery-operated toothbrush that brushes all your teeth at once? Strattner's got you covered. Inspired by in-flight publication SkyMall, Strattner conceived of, designed, created and photographed an array of inventions intended to make life "easier and, thus, more enjoyable."
ZIPPERED OUTER APPAREL WITH ATTACHABLE VELCRO ACCESSORIES, 2009
by Patrick Strattner
The creations are a testament to the artist's understanding of and insight into products that a public would, essentially, want to buy. By highlighting the gadgetry and components necessary to make the products work, however, Strattner is putting on display the seeming impracticableness inherent in satiating our immediate-gratification-consumerist nature. The photographs themselves—bright, colorful and funny—have a deliberate advertising appeal. In Strattner's comical world, what you want, you've got, no matter how cumbersome or outlandish.
BATTERY OPERATED BACK HAIR 2IN1 SHAVING AND GROOMING SYSTEM, 2010
by Patrick Strattner
In his artist statement, Strattner adds:
Like SkyMall products, my PROTOTYPES series encourages the audience to fantasize about a better life, a life made easier, and thus more enjoyable, through the possession of one or more of my inventions... However, like many items found in the SkyMall publication, the fantasy usually proves more gratifying than the actual product. My chosen medium of photography is essential in perpetuating that fantasy. Through photography, the prototype looks full of possibility and promise. The audience can embrace the concept of using this invention to improve their quality of life.
The Berlin-based photographer counts Adidas and Monocle among his clients; you can view more of his work here. However, those of you wanting to purchase any of his inventions are out of luck: The artist dismantles the prototypes after photographing them because "the fantasy exists more in the two-dimensional image and, as a result, the audience can allow themselves to indulge in the fantasy more readily and through that process find hope in possibility."