Artwork: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Know nothing, Believe anything, Forget everything), 1987/2014 screenprint on vinyl overall: 274.32 x 342.05 cm (108 x 134 11/16 in.) National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of the Collectors Committee, Sharon and John D. Rockefeller IV, Howard and Roberta Ahmanson, Denise and Andrew Saul, Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund, Agnes Gund, and Michelle Smith © Barbara Kruger
You have seen it a million times in your minds eye: across a black-and-white photograph, a red bar runs. Against the red, words are written in white Futura Bold typeface. It is the work of American artist Barbara Kruger (b. 1945), so iconic no less than Supreme used it as inspiration for their logo, perhaps unironically referencing her famed 1987 work that called out consumer culture with the words, “I shop therefore I am.”
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Three decades ago, Kruger brought us to the edge. We looked into the abyss and saw ourselves staring back at us, with a queasy smile of recognition. Fast forward to 2016, where many people proudly see themselves as brands. They take selfies and layer those photographs with words, unwittingly incorporating the very aphorisms Kruger has been speaking throughout her career. It’s a bit like the snake eating its tail and it becomes clear: progress is simply forward motion in time. Revolution is when the circle spins 360 degrees, returning to its starting point. We’ve been here before, haven’t we?
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