Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? 1956

Richard Hamilton made this collage in 1956, and it's a playful, yet critical snapshot of contemporary life. Hamilton brings together advertising images to explore how the media shapes our desires and fantasies. The artwork is packed with visual codes and cultural references that speak to post-war consumer culture in Britain and the United States. Consider the bodybuilder and pin-up girl: they represent idealized images of masculinity and femininity promoted by advertising. Also, the products in the collage, like the Ford logo, and the ‘Young Romance’ comic book point to the rise of consumerism and mass media in the 1950s. Hamilton questions whether these new social norms are ‘progressive’ or if they reveal new kinds of social anxieties. To understand Hamilton’s collage better, we could look at magazines, advertising archives, and social histories of the period. This will reveal more about the social conditions that shaped artistic production and the public role of art.