Culture

The Smithsonian Institute's interview with artist Michael Albert in 2012.

Examining Our Culture’s Iconography One Cereal Box at a Time

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Michael Albert travels the United States with his art and the deep-set intention to share it.

He stops at elementary schools and libraries and brings along with him plastic container upon plastic container of magazine clippings and fragments cut from various packaging, especially from cereal boxes. He teaches students of all ages how to create collages out of these materials, how to make art out of iconography they have been familiar with for years.

Albert is what one might call a “modern pop artist,” in the same linage as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein and Claes Oldenburg but achingly 21st century in the direction of his work. He has birthed what he playfully calls “cerealism,” drawing loosely from the fundamentals of the surrealist art movement, but doing so with snippets of cereal boxes. His first attempt within this particular genre of his own work is entitled “The Birth of Cerealism,” made up of a cut up Frosted Flakes box.

"Map of Manhattan" by Michael Albert.
“Map of Manhattan” by Michael Albert.

Over the course of the summer, 28 of Albert’s works were on display in the Fur Peace Ranch’s Psylodelic Gallery, each of them themed after a song crucial to the cultural relevance of the counterculture of the ’60s. Wise snippets from the likes of the Lovin’ Spoonful, The Beatles, The Who, and, of course, Jefferson Airplane (among many others,) were artfully arranged in the context of collages of iconography taken directly from present-day consumer culture.

“I had been doing a teaching tour at libraries throughout the summer, and I had heard that Fur Peace Ranch was kind of in the area where I was – near Charleston and Parkersburg,” said Albert, who called the Ranch shortly after his discovery to see if they would be interested in hosting one of his workshops in conjuction with their famous guitar camps. “I thought that maybe the students would be interested in my work, and in making art themselves – after all, they’re creative people, they’re here playing the guitar, and maybe they’d occasionally need a break.”

Vanessa Kaukonen responded to Albert’s inquiry, incorporating his work into the ranch’s annual Arts and Minds Festival, as well as commissioning him to create a number of pieces to be displayed in the ranch’s gallery.

"The Number Pi" by Michael Albert.
“The Number Pi” by Michael Albert.

The works that were on display in the gallery were the result of hours upon hours of work on Albert’s end – listening to a soundtrack of some of the most iconic songs of the ‘60s and picking and choosing which lines would be incorporated into his art.

“I liked picking lyrics that are very familiar and iconic, but that might take someone a minute to recognize exactly where they remember them from,” said Albert, who said that the process of completing the commissioned works for the Fur Peace Ranch was similar to his typical artistic process, pulling from bits and pieces that he has in his home studio that he comes across while making art. “I like to use this consumer packaging because it is so abundant, there’s plenty of it and it’s so familiar. Every little piece taken out of context is like a mind game, where you ask yourself where exactly you might have seen it before.”

Every time that Albert takes his work someplace, he advises the venue in advance to save packages that can be used to make collages, everything from cereal boxes to Kleenex.

“These images that I use transcend socioeconomic barriers – I can go to some of the wealthiest communities in the country and some of the poorest, too, and I’ve learned that regardless of whether someone is very rich or very poor, they probably eat Honey Bunches of Oats,” said Albert. “There’s no specific cereal for the ultra-rich millionaire. People all eat Cheerios, too, which I think about a lot. Cheerios are the one food that you eat throughout your entire life. It’s one of the first foods you can eat as a baby and it’s one of the last foods you can eat as you age.”

Besides being an artist, Albert is also an entrepreneur. He is the creator of Sir Real fruit juices, which are entirely organic. The kind of juice that is available through the company changes each week depending on what is in season and what the fruit groves that Sir Real juices works with have in stock. Some favorites include orange juice, tangerine juice, lemonade, limeade, and grapefruit juice. Sir Real juices date back to 1988, when Albert started selling lingonberry juice with two of his college classmates following their graduation from New York University. In 1991, Albert started Tri-State Natural Foods, which marketed new age and all natural foods to markets in the general New York area. In 2004, Sir Real Juices returned as a refrigerated juice available in various upscale grocers.

“I’m trying to support the arts through my brand, said Albert. “What I want for Sir Real is, first, for it to be an excellent quality product, otherwise nobody is going to eat or drink it. And, secondly, support arts and arts education. Ultimately, what I want to do is take people from a grocery store to a museum.”