I’ve come to realize that a lot of emotional exhaustion/ mental fatigue ( at least for myself) comes from seeing advertisements whereever the hell I go!!! On the phone, before movies, on radios, on billboards in shop windows.
I live in a city with a ton of graffiti artists- people complain that they “ruin the city” but honestly I love it. I love seeing the new tags pop up, large phrases being painted in impossible places. It’s thrilling to watch art grow around you. The other day the city shit down four lanes of traffic to buff away some of the graffiti. Now the walls on the road lack colour and character- their life has been drained from them with tax money that should be going into ending the fentanyl crisis. It had me thinking about how graffiti is unacceptable but large billboards harassing us ( about literally anything) is fine and ok. Mass marketing via assumed consent is ( in my mind ) more destructive than someone spray painting “YoMama” on the walls lining the highway.
It’s perfectly fine for corporations to make advertisements that exploit the emotional processes of the human mind but not cool for some kid to make their mark in the world.
Exactly! They lovvee fighting back against real disruptive art only to reappropriate it. Omg also your observation about the lack of color is reminding of the “beigefication” of society: interior design, clothing, and even product packaging. There is something eerie about equating “timeless” with the lack of color/vibrancy that I think is representative of life.
The Che Guevara one got me gasping so hard!!! I truly stopped staring at it for 5 seconds asking myself: did they really dare to use a prominent marxist figure, assassinated by neoliberal capitalists to promote "guerrilla marketing"?? and "guerrilla"?? Using marxist lingo when this system heavily demonises marxism is such a crime!!! I didn't even know such a term existed and I am baffled! Great article, though :)
Also constantly asking myself what it looks like to remain radical in my imagination/ideologies when belief systems are being watered down in a way that gives us the impression of progress, but really are just the same BS repackaged
Co-opting/re-appropriating is capitalism m.o! It’s exhausting to defend stances/beliefs when we know in a few years it’s going to be part of some company’s marketing scheme. Heavy sigh!
I’ve come to realize that a lot of emotional exhaustion/ mental fatigue ( at least for myself) comes from seeing advertisements whereever the hell I go!!! On the phone, before movies, on radios, on billboards in shop windows.
I live in a city with a ton of graffiti artists- people complain that they “ruin the city” but honestly I love it. I love seeing the new tags pop up, large phrases being painted in impossible places. It’s thrilling to watch art grow around you. The other day the city shit down four lanes of traffic to buff away some of the graffiti. Now the walls on the road lack colour and character- their life has been drained from them with tax money that should be going into ending the fentanyl crisis. It had me thinking about how graffiti is unacceptable but large billboards harassing us ( about literally anything) is fine and ok. Mass marketing via assumed consent is ( in my mind ) more destructive than someone spray painting “YoMama” on the walls lining the highway.
It’s perfectly fine for corporations to make advertisements that exploit the emotional processes of the human mind but not cool for some kid to make their mark in the world.
Amazing piece, has me thinking!
Exactly! They lovvee fighting back against real disruptive art only to reappropriate it. Omg also your observation about the lack of color is reminding of the “beigefication” of society: interior design, clothing, and even product packaging. There is something eerie about equating “timeless” with the lack of color/vibrancy that I think is representative of life.
The Che Guevara one got me gasping so hard!!! I truly stopped staring at it for 5 seconds asking myself: did they really dare to use a prominent marxist figure, assassinated by neoliberal capitalists to promote "guerrilla marketing"?? and "guerrilla"?? Using marxist lingo when this system heavily demonises marxism is such a crime!!! I didn't even know such a term existed and I am baffled! Great article, though :)
Also constantly asking myself what it looks like to remain radical in my imagination/ideologies when belief systems are being watered down in a way that gives us the impression of progress, but really are just the same BS repackaged
Co-opting/re-appropriating is capitalism m.o! It’s exhausting to defend stances/beliefs when we know in a few years it’s going to be part of some company’s marketing scheme. Heavy sigh!