Appropriation and Kruger

Appropriation means to place an object or image in a context with which it is not conventionally associated with, forcing the audience to create its own interpretation. The text appropriates (takes over) the image. Barbra Kruger uses appropriation by embracing both image and language commonly used in advertising to convey a different message. For example, in 'Your comfort is my silence', 1981, Kruger combined a black and white image of a man pushing his finger up to his lips insinuating silence with 'your comfort is my silence' text. The first two words cover the mans eyes in order to remove identity and portray the idea of 'all men are the same'. By arranging the text in an advert-like collage format to convey a message of gender stereo types, Kruger's image becomes a work of appropriation. However at the same time she is keeping her statements somewhat ambiguous, forcing the viewer to construct meaning and actively participate themselves in the appropriation process of the work. Appropriation is also used in the way Kruger's work was distributed: in the form of umbrellas, tote bags, postcards, mugs, T-shirts, posters, and so on, purposely confusing the boundaries between art and advertising. Most of the images Kruger uses for these works are found photography taken from American print media, she was using images to mock its their own sources.