The 80s are vital for our art

The 90s and the Naughties in comparison become bland branded times. The energy is lost in a homogenised celebrity obsessed culture. The avant-garde characters that graced the front pages have been replaced by manufactured pop. I think it's due to this lack of substance that the 80s suddenly appear so vital.

The language of advertising and marketing changed from highlighting the intrinsic value of products to perform their function better than competitors, to associating products with personal empowerment. Rather than washing powders that made our "whites really bright" we got ice creams that made us sexually attractive. Brands were born, and I got bullied because my parents refused to buy me Nikes.

A lack of substance in today's pop culture means it's time for our art to explore what happened in the decade of Thatcher, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper.