Dirty Business

Artist Statement

Dirty Business

Logon

My piece is a box painted black, with pictures of Nike shoes and clothing around the outside. When the viewer opens the box and looks inside they will see a pictures of people working in factories making the shoes and clothes.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says that workers’ rights should be protected, that everyone has the right to rest and play, and that every child deserves an education. When child labor or sweatshop labor is used, all three of these rights are denied. I read an article that was about Nike and sweatshop labor. I was a fan of Nike, so I was interested in the article. I like the clothes and shoes they make, but now that I know how they make them, I’m not a fan of the way they make them.

My piece is trying to tell the viewers that Nike, who contracted with companies in Pakistan, and then those companies subcontracted with village children, has allowed children to make their shoes for low pay. I showed that by putting shoes and clothes on the outside of the box, but on the inside there are the pictures of the young people who actually make those clothes. In 2001 there were 2,500 children working for Nike, even though Nike may have not know about it directly. Nike “turned a blind eye” to the realities of child labor and sweatshops.