Father-Daughter Confessional (FDC) is an inter-generational collaborative team comprised of m.o.i. (father) and Sarah Star (daughter) that examines the sins of middle-class America—of which there are many—through the lens of age, gender, and middle-class economics. FDC collaborates with community and artists to make art that reflects societal, rather than corporate, concerns. FDC’s humorous, yet thought provoking engagements, meld science, popular culture, and visual acumen to engage the public in unexpected places and challenge entrenched institutional thinking. FDC has created interventions coupling the perils of intractable political thought with activism directed against continued, cultural insensitivity for women’s issues (We Might be Wrong; Remember the Ladies). In (More or Le$$), FDC engaged the public through a series of pop-ups directly aimed at the intersection of food deserts and hipster food culture in one of America’s wealthiest counties. FDC’s activism re-imagined corporate giveaways (Köttbullar: Examining our Meatball Culture) transforming an advertising strategy designed to create corporate wealth into a system for expanding community capital. Cut Your Hair in the Socialist Style created a working barbershop that served as a salon-within-a-salon for citizen discourse on issues of overlooked importance in the run-up to the 2016 US Presidential election. Listen In examined the intersection of private conversations in a public world. Image credit. Brandon Forest Federick. 2018
Down Home was an inter-generation take on home, house, opportunity, wants and needs. The project was anchored by two core components. The first, moving in, was loosely based on the notion of Sunday supper. And the second, moving out, centered on the notion of an estate sale. With each of these actions, FDC stripped the wallpaper from American Dream nostalgia to re-imagine home in its most essential form. A warm meal served at the kitchen table. The smell of freshly baked cookies. Fresh laundry in need of folding. A flickering fireplace. Or is it a mortgage in a flood plain? FEMA trailers? Buying low and selling high? What are your wants? What are your needs?
Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Works by Sarah Star. Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Work by Sarah Star. Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Discussion of wants and needs. With casserole.
Tiny Houses in a tiny house.
Closing reception and estate sale. Photo credit. Brandon Forest Frederick. 2018.
Despite three decades of an economy that outperformed its neighbors and the nation as a whole, there remains a growing class of citizens within Johnson County, mostly the working poor, who have seen their wages stagnate over the last 2 decades. During this time frame, much of the county’s job growth has been within the service sector—frequently part-time jobs with few, if any, benefits. The outcomes of this shift are varied. Segments of society grow wealthier and wealthier; they consume pricey organic, locally-sourced, sustainable foods from specialty markets and occupy trendy restaurants. In contrast, many of the working poor are forced to make hard choices about where best to buy affordable protein. The dollar menu might seem like an unhealthy food choice unless a dollar is all that fills your pocket. Surprisingly, some working poor may have greater access to organic, local, sustainable foods because they choose to grow it in their own backyard.
—excert from the artist statement for More or Le$$, by Sarah Star and m.o.i., 2014.
MORE or LE$$ is an interactive pop-up art installation produced in collaboration with the Johnson County Public Library series, Loss and Desire. Artists Sarah Star and m.o.i. researched the history and current food culture of the region and settled on Johnson County, KS —one of America’s wealthiest counties—to create this interactive pop-up art installation. The core of More or Le$$ was revealed inside the Trailer of Truth, a restored 1960 Airstream trailer. The trailer served as an exploratory vehicle for patrons to examine many factors that determine daily food choices. The work affirmed the public library’s role as a meeting place to educate the public and address socially relevant, yet potentially contentious issues in an artistic, factual, and non-threatening manner.
Consumers redeemed coupons (available for free) inside the trailer in order to make a choice between a one-of-a-kind/one time only sourdough donut or packets of fresh, organic vegetables and seeds for future harvests.
An example of the type of valued-add products that were available with a coupon redemption.
One of a kind sourdough donuts were also available with a coupon.
FDC’s activism re-imagined corporate giveaways transforming an advertising strategy designed to create corporate wealth into a system for expanding community capital.
Listen In examined the intersection of private conversations in a public world. The artists asked library patrons to anonymously write down "what is it that you wanted to ask (or say) to your father (or daughter) that you never did or were never able". These cards were then collected, arranged by a third party, and then given to artists. Without background review and preparation the artists went into a recording studio at the library and read the cards to each other. Cards written to a daughter were read by the father and vice versa. The artists spontaneously responded to those questions and/or statements as though the question was being asked by themselves.
Process still from the Center Part program of Cut Your Hair in the Socialist Style.
Event Flyer
Center Part.
Dreamers! The barbershop is the place to find yourself. Futurists! You are the ones we have been waiting for. Leaders! Dare to be inspired by some of our city’s most esteemed and hard-working women and men. Locavores! Taste the summer fruit of our labors.
Thursday evening, October 13th, Cut Your Hair in the Socialist Style presents Center Part. In which all of the problems of the world are resolved. At least between 6:30 and 9pm. In our barbershop. At The Drugstore, 3948 Main St, KCMO.
Kendall Harbin of the ZzSchool of Print Media and Dina Newman, Director of the UMKC Center for Neighborhoods will sit down in the salon-within-a-salon chairs and offer styling techniques on how to activate yourself, those around you, and build a better world. Phyllis Manley, of Phyllis’ Barber Shop, will be a guest barber for the event. It’s simple enough. Just be there.
But wait. There’s more! Brandon Forrest Frederick will present Come Here, Build _____. In this project, citizens, many of whom feel disconnected to the democratic process and city developments, will create a new form of interaction with the spaces they inhabit. Color your world of tomorrow today.
#cutyourhairinthesocialiststyle
Two-color risograph on light pole (with tags).
Media co-opting and branding.
Guest speakers were seated in barber chairs and given haircuts while addressing the audience.
Back-lit window sign for the salon-within-a-salon. Branding served as advertisement for the space and events. In addition to this sign, a series of limited Cut Your Hair in the Socialist Style posters were designed and produced based upon historical examination of US and Soviet propaganda images. Posters were produced as limited-edition risographs, newsprint screen prints, and fine art limited editions. Posters were then distributed as project propaganda and sold to raise money for additional programming.
Free Lunch at Gardner Public Library, Gardner, KS.
Activation at Monticello Branch of Johnson County Library. Shawnee, KS
Free Lunch activation at Central Resources Branch of Johnson County, KS library. Overland Park, KS.
Activation at Monticello Branch of Johnson County Library. Shawnee, KS.