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Tea Country

Collage
2000 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Susan Stockwell has used paper, paper products and other commonplace materials, such as rubber and wool, in a number of highly inventive ways. They are all centred on the notion of map as signifier of commodification, trade and economic power. In this piece she has stitched together used tea bags in a witty commentary on a peculiarly British obsession, tea drinking. At the same time it is a reference to the British Empire's former control of India and the legacy of Imperial exploitation.

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view Mapping the imagination Maps are simplified schematic diagrams that employ a universal visual language through which we codify and comprehend our world. We all use maps in our daily lives as sources of information about places, routes, networks, and boundaries. They offer us the means of describing and understand...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTea Country (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Collage of stitched and cut tea bags glued or pasted on to paper
Brief description
'Tea Country', collage, map of the British Isles, by Susan Stockwell; Great Britain, 2000
Physical description
framed collage of stitched and cut used tea bags on paper support, cut to the shape of a map of the British isles.
Dimensions
  • Tea bags, sight height: 54cm
  • Tea bags, sight width: 27cm
  • Frame height: 73.6cm
  • Frame width: 53.4cm
the collage is in a frame selected by the artist.
Gallery label
Stockwell has often used maps to explore the history of trade and economic power. Here used tea bags have been stitched together to make a simple map. It is a witty allusion to the British obsession with tea-drinking, but also refers indirectly to the legacy of the British Empire in India.(2007)
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Susan Stockwell has used paper, paper products and other commonplace materials, such as rubber and wool, in a number of highly inventive ways. They are all centred on the notion of map as signifier of commodification, trade and economic power. In this piece she has stitched together used tea bags in a witty commentary on a peculiarly British obsession, tea drinking. At the same time it is a reference to the British Empire's former control of India and the legacy of Imperial exploitation.
Collection
Accession number
E.716-2003

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Record createdJanuary 5, 2004
Record URL
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