Campish Undertakings is an exploration of camp that satirizes today's most prominent tastemakers: household brands.
Role
Book Design, 3D Illustration, Illustration
Timeline
January–April 2022
In 1870, the crossdresser Fanny Park referred to his “campish undertakings” in a letter which would later be presented as evidence during his questioning by a magistrate on Bow Street, London. This questioning was conducted, of course, due to suspicions of illegal homosexual activity. This was one of the first documented uses of “camp” in this context.
Camp, known to many as the aesthetic sensibility of “it’s good because it’s awful,” has long been associated with queer culture. Queer people have historically used camp to take aesthetics which are seen as "tacky," "gaudy," or generally "in poor taste," and give them specialized value in their own circles and contexts. "Good taste" isn't arbitrary—rather it is decided by a society's cultural elite—so in a way, camp is an act of defiance against the normative hierarchy of legitimate culture.
Read the full research document here. A fully designed booklet is in progress, but below is an excerpt written by author, activist, burlesque performer and instructor Jo Weldon.
Based on the above research, “Campish Undertakings” takes the form of hoax advertisements parodying brands that are generally held in high regard in an attempt to undermine their influence. This anti-marketing campaign aims to encourage consumers to ask the question: "Who gets to decide what is and isn't good taste?"
Using a combination of photography, photo manipulation, collaging, illustration, typography, and 3d design, I created absurd composite images, each poking fun at aspects of a particular brand. These images were then mocked-up in a variety of advertising scenarios, to communicate how the prospective audience would encounter them in context.
Camp stems from a desire to satirize and criticize existing notions of "good taste," but its aesthetics have been co-opted by individuals and organizations which continue to uphold these very notions (à la 2019 Met Gala). By exhibiting my personal queer perspective on “so bad, it’s good,” I aim to position camp in a way that opposes existing hierarchies of taste and the institutions that reify them.
