Anders Bergstom | Need A Bag?

December 9, 2021 – January 22, 2022

Planthouse is pleased to present Anders Bergstrom: Need A Bag?. In this series of new works, Bergstrom’s artistic focus is the brown paper bag— a common, seemingly inconsequential item present in our everyday life. Yet, Bergstrom takes this item and transforms it, masking a piece about the production process under the veil of a finished product. Bergstrom’s paper bags pay tribute to the individual labor behind the gears of mass production. However, his paper bags look as they usually do (crisp, flattened, or greasy); they are also constructed, through skilled print methods, in a way that speaks to the process of manual reproduction in the mass production sphere.

By removing the bags from their everyday reality and invoking imagery of ideas like utilitarian design objects, street detritus, garbage, and environmental concerns, Bergstrom comments on consumer culture, mass production, and the role of the laborer. The meticulous engineering of Bergstrom’s bags puts the artist into the shoes of the laborer.