If you have driven through the streets of most suburbs, you have seen the row houses of equivalent design, decoration, and setback. Such standardization seems depressing to you, but the important thing is that it seems even more depressing to the suburbanite. As a consequence, an enormous amount of effort has been spent by suburbanites to make their homes different from those on either side and across the street. The more identical things are, the more he seeks some distinctive touch to symbolize and validate any particular tract house as his house. (Scott Donaldson, The Suburban Myth)
Paint Palettes parodies the exotic names assigned to ordinary household paint colours. Each piece in this series is presented as an oversize paint sampler, depicting 65 identical garage doors sporting a variety of colours. The differences between shades is subtle and at times hardly noticeable, yet the paint names differ radically, suggesting that paint is marketed and utilized as an expression of individuality.
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Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
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The Romance Collection
C-print from digital file, 2002
74.5″ x 39″ (189 x 99 cm)
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The Romance Collection, Detail
C-print from digital file, 2002
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The White Collection
C-print from digital file, 2002
74.5″ x 39″ (189 x 99 cm)
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The White Collection, Detail
C-print from digital file, 2002
The Gothic Collection
C-print from digital file, 2002
74.5″ x 39″ (189 x 99 cm)
The Gothic Collection, Detail
C-print from digital file, 2002
The Heritage Collection
C-print from digital file, 2002
74.5″ x 39″ (189 x 99 cm)
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The Heritage Collection, Detail
C-print from digital file, 2002
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The Black Collection
C-print from digital file, 2002
74.5″ x 39″ (189 x 99 cm)
The Black Collection, Detail
C-print from digital file, 2002
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SUSAN DOBSON 