Transforming the USA one PBJ at a time.
PBJ! USA!™
PBJ! USA!™ is the culmination of a long term project involving peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that I chewed into the shapes of all 50 United States.
The PBJ! USA!™ project is now available as a printed pamphlet that unfolds into a 19″x 28″ poster. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of these pamphlets, and other PBJ! USA!™ merch, will be donated to Food Not Bombs. An organization that is helping to end food waste, and provides nutritious meals to those in need.
PBJ! USA!
19” x 28” Poster
$45.00
PBJ! USA! — Hawaii
Context
The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is a cuisine that became popular following the advent of sliced bread in the 1920’s and gained popularity during World War II when peanut butter and jelly were part of American military rations. It is now as firmly grounded in American culture as apple pie, with the average American eating over 1,000 PBJ’s by the time they’re 18 years old. The PBJ is an inexpensive snack that can also be a main course. And has provided some necessary personal sustenance through various (financial) stages of my life.
As I sat watching the election results pour in on cable news during the last presidential election (2016), I remember looking at the map change colors as county and state results were finalized. Blue cities encircled by expanses of red. I remember desperately wanting to see a map of the United States that was any other color than Blue and Red; two very primary, very saturated, and, frankly, very ugly colors. That feeling stuck with me for the last four years, and manifested in the PBJ! USA!™ project: a series of photographs of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the shapes of all fifty United States.
The process of sculpting the sandwiches with my mouth and then photographing them emerged, and the fifty state survey manifested slowly as I occasionally ate a PBJ sandwich after work, or for breakfast. After about a year and a half (2018-2020), I had compiled this series of all fifty states. This slow, consistent, ritualistic process provided a way for me to change the map visually, and to deconstruct the arrangement of the states into an image that is still distinctly American.
Also at the back of my mind was the concept of sympathetic magic, which I believe underlies most creative processes. It is the concept that one can influence something based on its relationship, or resemblance to another thing. So often the world we participate in (knowingly and unknowingly) appears fixed, and creative imagery has the ability to transport the viewer to another realm or vision that can thereby inspire change. This gesture of changing the map of the USA into a visually homogeneous collection of photographs intends to influence movement towards a less polarized USA.
I sincerely hope to someday live in a world with a non-binary political landscape that values the well being of all people. I hope this shift will be grounded in basic human needs: nutritious food, clean water, housing, access to good healthcare, access to unbiased education, and unbiased value given to all human life. Because, after all, we Americans are just a bunch of weirdos that like peanut butter (and jelly). *
PBJ! USA! Postcards
PBJ! USA!
Choose your state!
4” x 6” Postcard
$10.00
Tap a state to shop!
