Self-expression through button badges

Abstract

For decades, the button badge has acted as a circular canvas upon which an individual may publicly display any message they wish. Such a quality has allowed people to openly express multiple elements of the wearer's identity and proudly communicate with those around them. This project aims to explore the link between button badges and self-expression and how they may be utilised as a medium to produce art which represents one's identity, creating a personal archive. The research undertaken throughout this project has formed an understanding of the history and representative aspects of button badges and the self-expressive qualities they share with pre-existing artworks. This in combination with ethnographic, auto-ethnographic, and practice-based research has culminated in a deeply personal contemporary work which explores the self-expressive qualities of the button badge and their ability to form a pseudo self portrait of the wearer. Creating a connection with the viewer as they are encouraged to question the meaning behind the badges which make up the ever-growing archive.