Melanie Garcia
Cold Buffet is a series of large format digital prints in which images of mannequins are placed in a stylized architectural setting. Cold Buffet focuses on environments that are the images of flawlessness, illustrated in interior design, home decoration and architectural magazines.
Left visible in the prints is the half-tone screen that is created through the four-colour printing process for magazines, becoming a visible reminder of the images original context. When enlarged to four times the actual size, the half-tone is a striking contrast against the mannequins smooth j-peg texture, creating a jarring collage aesthetic.
The manner in which the mannequins are placed in the setting is of fashion posturing: disdain, disinterest, and nonchalance. A pair or a group are placed together in an attempt to create semblance of a social interaction or dynamic in a space seemlingly devoid of human inhabitation. They reflect a dichotomy through their suggestive poses and equally, the banality and boredom which is projected through their artificial faces and rigid positions
