This whimsical series by artist Michele Pred bears the title “Promote the General Welfare,” which phrase might ring a bell insofar as it is in the first line of the U.S. Constitution.

Some of the items feature actual neon, whereas others use electroluminescent wire twisted and bent to get a similar, albeit lo-fi, effect.

Pred’s comment on the series is as follows:
 

Each unique piece is made using a vintage handbag from the 1950s or ‘60s. For me, the use of purses from the mid-twentieth century harks back to that critical era, and reminds us how much has changed and, more importantly, how much has not. The text on each purse is created using Electroluminescent wire that is lit up using batteries and a small electronic driver that can be set to constant or flash mode.  The purses are meant to be carried and serve as small-scale political billboards.

 
Michele Pred’s work can be found at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery.
 

 

 

This translucent piece includes more than 20,000 expired birth control pills to “express the challenges many women have accessing affordable birth control”
 

 
More after the jump…