Totem Goals

Modern-day totem poles constructed from Americans’ favorite consumer materials—cars, beer cans, even cheeseburgers.

Totem Goals

Interview by Rosecrans Baldwin

The Morning News: How do one of your totem poles begin?

David Welch: They begin as a mental sketch. Then I gather materials and start stacking. Location is important. Then I simply build them.

TMN: Which of the photographs best connects with objects you personally find meaningful?

DW: All of them, really. The work is both comment and confession, so the items represent personal consumption as well. Continue reading


David Welch’s “Material World” is currently on view by appointment at London’s Roman Road Project Space. All images used with permission, all rights reserved, copyright © the artist.

Shopping Totem, 2010, archival pigment print
Shopping Totem, 2010, archival pigment print
Beer Can Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Beer Can Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Satellite Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Satellite Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Toilet Paper Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Toilet Paper Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Car Culture Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Car Culture Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Toy Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Toy Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Plastic Totem, 2010, archival pigment print
Plastic Totem, 2010, archival pigment print
Burger Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Burger Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Tire Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Tire Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Laundry Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Laundry Totem, 2011, archival pigment print
Neoliberal Totem, 2010, archival pigment print
Neoliberal Totem, 2010, archival pigment print

Interview continued

TMN: What’s your favorite appliance around the house?

DW: Coffee-bean grinder.

TMN: When are you afraid?

DW: Nothing makes me more nervous than those moments before a commercial shoot. Portraits, too. I have too many expectations.

TMN: Do you consider yourself a sculptor?

DW: Not yet.

TMN: When was the last time you looked at a piece of someone else’s art and were confused?

DW: I just saw two Calder mobiles at a private residence today and was a bit disappointed. Then a nice breeze entered the house which quickly changed my opinion!

TMN: Aldous Huxley wrote, “If war, waste, and moneylenders were abolished, you’d collapse.”

DW: It’s all precarious, like one of my totems. But, also an illusion; you can choose when, where, and how to participate.