Julia Caswell Freund

Performance duration: 15:00

Excerpt duration: 01:27

​

Used in the Reagan reelection campaign in 1984, the slogan and subsequent ad "It's morning again in America" sought to evoke an image of the reestablished American commercial and capitalist landscape. In the midst of a local coffee shop, I brewed my own Folgers coffee while reading a newspaper printed by Henry Smith, a collaborator and artist friend. The headline reads “STUDY SHOWS THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS ARE UNSURE.” This line, coupled with the lack of awareness the persona has for her surroundings, speaks to the average US citizen’s ignorance of the effects our American wealth has on global economies. In the coffee shop itself, no one except the shop owner knew I was performing art. Customers were visibly uncomfortable, often looking away, and I felt a mutual unease during the performance. Acknowledging the price difference between self-brewed and cafe coffee, this work also implicitly draws attention to the discrepancy in the original coffee grower’s wages.