Why should I be sad?, 2019
wall-based installation, photographic prints on adhesive vinyl

Commissioned for Do You Know This Feeling?, 6 February – 1 March 2019, curated by Sebastian Henry-Jones, Firstdraft, Sydney

Text-in-dialogue with the exhibition on Running Dog: ‘Do You Know Thus Feeling? Curated by Sebastian Henry-Jones’, by June Miskell
Critical response on Running Dog: ‘Fangirl’, by Talia Smith

Why should I be sad? consists of 275 images collated from the Instagram account of Britney Spears, printed on adhesive vinyl and applied directly to the wall. Since joining the platform in 2011, the singer has made a regular habit of posting and reposting motivational content to her millions of followers. Why should I be sad? is titled after a single on her 2007 album Blackout. Released in the same year as her highly-publicised struggles with her mental health, the song chronicles the anguish and humiliation she endured in the aftermath of her divorce from dancer Kevin Federline – and the mental and emotional resilience that it forged.