Window Shopping

Window Shopping is an installation that reimagines the traditional butcher’s display as a commentary on the aesthetics of meat, consumption and violence. The exhibit features ceramic replicas of meat (sausages, ribs, steak etc) displayed both on plinths and suspended from chains in the Plate Glass gallery. This mirrors the visual appeal of a butcher’s elaborate display while critiquing the ethical and cultural implications of purchasing slaughtered animal bodies. When the butcher shop display is removed from its usual context and placed in the gallery space, pedestrians are given the opportunity to question meat’s presence and origin—an inquiry that might not have occurred in its typical setting. The installation plays with the tension between the seductive allure of animal flesh as a consumable object and the violence and exploitation inherent in its production. Butcher displays are often meticulously curated to emphasize the supposed beauty of animal flesh, showcasing its rich colors and textures in a way that entices customers. However, Window Shopping challenges viewers to confront the grotesque creation of meat—the hidden death and suffering that is the foundation of its appeal.

Window Shopping invites viewers to engage with the artwork from a voyeuristic distance, emulating how modern consumer culture under capitalism separates individuals from the origin of foods and products purchased. The transparent window acts as both a frame and a barrier, drawing people in while reminding them of the distance between the viewer and the commodity. This creates a space for reflection on how consumption—both literal and visual—shapes our relationship with food and its ethical implications. The act of browsing is reimagined as a metaphor for our increasingly detached relationship with consumption. Just as patrons at a butcher shop admire the curated “beauty” of meat from a safe distance, they are distanced from its violent origins. Similarly, a butcher’s window entices customers to indulge in visual desire while concealing the reality of slaughter. This installation highlights how modern consumer culture often separates us from the ethical implications of the products we buy.

The exhibit provokes a dialogue about the commodification of life, the sanitization of death, and the contradiction between the appeal we ascribe to meat and its cruel origins. By placing these ceramic “cuts of clay” in a public and accessible space, the work challenges viewers to reconsider their relationship with consumption, urging reflection on the moral, aesthetic, and emotional dimensions of buying merchandise which are a direct result of bloodshed in contemporary society.