Toby Ashbee
"United Songs of America", 2009
My third year work explores the constriction of choice within today's society and consumerist culture. I have always been intrigued by the involvement and relationship between people and the conscious or unconscious decisions they make on an everyday basis. Through the exploration of this topic I have assembled a number of projects including a map of supermarkets in Bristol demonstrating people's choices depending on their location as well as an investigation into the choices people make within different professions, which resulted in a video piece and book. The handling and consolidation of material from a wide range of sources and media involved a great deal of editing, which ended up in a coherent and successful body of work. The wide range of possibilities created by this work gave me the opportunity to explore and develop my skills and enthusiasm in image making, sculpture, typography and print.
