Steph Frederick
Profile
Many of Frederick's artistic activities deal with themes of art history, marketing research and the psychological structures that give rise to vague concepts of 'goodwill' and 'value'. Through interactive performances, she often explores how people socially and psychologically negotiate a world that is becoming increasingly saturated with advertising. Best known for her 'Unfocused Groups', 'Advertisements for Nothing' and 'Tissue Project', Frederick often references the conceptual works of John Cage, Ad Reinhardt, Marcel Duchamp, Felix Gonzales-Torres and Robert Rauschenberg.Statement
"I'm interested in the blurry area between art and advertising, the fibrous tendons that connect commerce and culture - the psychology of faith. In our times, trust only seems to be given when there is a concrete transaction, the perception of value on both sides of the equation. Whether it is a marketing campaign, a pop song or a work of contemporary art, by asking for the participant's attention, something has to be given back. I hope to visually represent the psychological structures that allow for this reciprocation to take place. I want to provoke people into seeing how their trust and faith in goodwill is being deteriorated by a world that always asks for something in return."Works : "Tissue project"
When Steph Frederick arrived at Tokyo’s Shinjuku Station for the first time in 1996, she was surprised by the number of people aggressively thrusting packets of pocket tissue in her direction. During travels around Europe, Frederick had often encountered people passing out flyers and other types of advertisements, but never pocket tissue. While she was previously inclined to ignore the distributors of such material, in Tokyo, she made an exception. Unlike fliers and pamphlets, pocket tissue had practical value - you could blow your snot into it after reading the ad. Frederick was instantly intrigued by the marketing, psychology and sociology involved in the passing out and reception of pocket tissue based advertisements.In Japan, most companies realize that they must give something of value in order to intice pedestrians to take what is obviously an advertisement. In addition to being small, light and cheap to produce, pocket tissue is, after being received, carried on the person for a considerable amount of time. Furthermore, the advertisement placed on top of the tissue is not read just once, it is viewed each time the receiver uses a tissue (each pack usually contains 6-8 tissues). Moreover, tissue are a daily necessity in crowded Japanese cities such as Tokyo, where almost nobody escapes cold season.
Frederick was interested in how the passing out of tissue equated to a balanced negotiation - one that is concsious on the part of the advertiser and usually subconscious on the part of the receiver. According to Frederick, “People have become so conditioned to viewing and accepting advertisements that they don’t realize how they are being manipulated, and that their energy is being directed at something they would not consciously choose to spend it on."
From November of 2000 until the winter of 2002, Frederick carried out ‘Tissue Project’ performances in Japan’s two largest urban areas, Tokyo and Osaka. Although several were conducted during the summer, she purposely scheduled the bulk of performances in the autumn and winter months, considering that tissues are most needed in these seasons to combat cold and influenza epidemics. Around major train stations in each city, Frederick hired young Japanese men and women to pass out packets of plain white pocket tissue. These packets of tissue were indistinguishable from the tissue handed out by restaurants, karaoke bars, travel agents, massage parlors, English conversation schools, and discount contact lens vendors except in one aspect – they contained no advertisement whatsoever.
As Frederick expected, people had diverse reactions to the tissue. Some recipients had become so used to the transaction of 'attention' for 'useful object' that they automatically grabbed the tissue and in almost a single motion placed it in their pocket or bag. Others turned the tissue over in their hand and realized that the equation wasn't balanced - something strange was going on here. Several recipients quickly tore into the tissue, figuring that a savvy company must have placed the advertisement in the middle of the packet. Seeing no company name, a couple of people even quickly threw the tissue on the ground - this being the age of terrorism and fear. A young couple noticed the unnatural whiteness and laughed - they kept the packet. A middle-aged man in glasses angrily brought the tissue back. "Who the hell are you? Why are you passing out plain tissue?" As trained, tissue dispensing staff quickly retorted, "There's a cold epidemic. We thought people might need some tissue." Someone who was not satisfied with this explanation summoned the police, who interviewed Frederick directly. "The policeman basically called me a troublemaker and said that people might react badly to getting something for nothing. I explained the project and then arrogantly paraphrased Rauschenberg's explanation of his 1951 White Paintings, 'Because they contain no advertisement at all, because they are so exceptionally blank and reflective, the tissue packets change in sympathy with the ambient conditions in which they are received.' He wasn't particularly impressed. Due to the pressure, we stopped passing out tissue for the day. However, I thought to myself, 'This is the kind of reaction that validates the project."
Tissue Project Statistics
34% of people within arms length took tissue.
53% of the people who took tissue looked at.
18% of the people who took tissue placed it in their pocket within 3 seconds of receiving it.
3% of the people who took tissue threw it in the trash box at the nearby zebra crossing.
In 2 hours of passing out tissue on February 9th, 2002...
3 people threw it on the ground after realizing there was no advertisement.
2 people used it right away.
2 people confronted the people passing out the tissue, demanding an explanation.
1 person confronted the photographer documenting the project, demanding privacy in public.
1 police officer, receiving a complaint from an unidentified tissue recipient, confronted the people passing out tissue and later interviewed the artist herself.
