Pennants
Pennants for the Working Class is an installation composed of 96 flags (twelve sets of eight uniquely patterned flags), screenprinted in a variety of colors with hand additions including sequins, beading, glitter, and rhinestones.
The patterns on the flags reference patterns derived from American household glass objects, including depression glass, carnival glass, and early American pressed glass.
These glass objects were popular during the late nineteenth century until about the mid-twentieth century. The objects were beautiful and widely available to people of all social classes due to the method of production, where molten glass was pressed into a mould to quickly make multiples- unlike their more precious predecessor, cut crystal. I have therefore come to think of these objects and their patterns as symbols of the American dream.
For me, the pennant form is borrowed from the ivory tower. It is a symbol of yacht clubs, ivy league universities, prestige, and pride.
