Andrew McKay

Obedient Dog

Jackson's Painting Prize 2021
Acrylic, Ink, Graphite
Panel
61 x 46 cm

“I’m a young child and I deposit a quarter in the vending machine in the mall hallway. I don’t get a sticky hand toy or a packet of sweets: I receive a jagged, translucent, neon-green piece of plastic. On the underside it is stamped MADE IN CHINA. It’s a dud of a prize, but I’m excited and interested in where in China this came from, and who has made it? What is their life like and how does their workday function?

I wonder the same thing about the cast-plastic dogs used as donation coin collectors for the Society of the Blind. Who is responsible for making these, and what are the circumstances under which they are made? Is it a large manufactory (there seem to be enough of the plastic dogs that this is feasible) or a small workshop (is there really that large an on-going demand)? Outside of how they are made, why are they made this way? The eyes bulge out in a way that seems inappropriate given the circumstances…”