I got these images from adbusters.com. I think for my project I want to explore the idea of over-consumerism and the vicious cycle of "needing" things. I don't want to take the extreme perspective that as commercialism and advertisements are all bad and should be cut out completely, but that it can have a negative impact on society and should be reduced. I want to explore how ads persuade "filling a void" in our lives and why it isn't really fulfilling.
"As long as consumption is focused on satisfying basic human needs -- safety, shelter, food, clothing, health care, education -- it is not consumerism. But when, on attempts to satisfy these higher needs through the simple acquisition of goods and services, consumption turns into consumerism -- and consumerism becomes a social disease...
A culture in which the urge to consume dominates the psychology of citizens is a culture in which people will do most anything to acquire the means to consume -- working slavish hours, behaving rapaciously in their business pursuits, and even bending the rules in order to maximize their earnings. They will also buy homes beyond their means and think nothing of running up credit-card debt. It therefore seems safe to say that consumerism is, as much as anything else, responsible for the current economic mess."
-Amitai Etzioni http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amitai-etzioni/the-crisis-of-american-co_b_1855390.html
I think this is a very original idea and an issue that is very much prominent in today's society. While I love your concept, I'd also like to see more of the direction you are headed in. How have you envisioned this piece in your head?
ReplyDeletei think this is a good idea, and very relevant to today. I'm interested to see how you present this piece.
ReplyDeleteI think your concept is very powerful and personal to all of us in some way. I'm interested to what you use to build your composition and how you put it together.
ReplyDeleteI love this idea and I totally agree with the direction you're headed. This will turn out to be a more political piece which might involve a little more research but I think it'll be fun and the final product will be amazing. I'm interested to see how the top image fits into this project and what kind of style and medium you'll be using.
ReplyDeleteYou're working with something that's very relevant to our society right now, so there should be a lot of material to work with. I can't wait to see how you bring this piece together.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested in this idea and I think you can make a great piece about it. The song "Wings" by Macklemore comes to mind. I think consumerism is very relevant and an idea that needs to be explored more these days.
ReplyDeleteThis is an idea I toyed around with for the fantasy appliance assignment, and its ripe for interpretation. There is a lot of territory to explore regarding consumer culture and how our levels of comfort hinge on physical things.
ReplyDeleteim interested to see what is going to come out of this piece but am excited to see
ReplyDeleteThe dependence on material things can really hinder our growth as people, I love this idea. Can't wait to see this project develop
ReplyDelete"and consumerism becomes a social disease." ... very well put. This is definitely a very relative topic to explore and many many will relate to and understand it's significance. It can also be very broad topic to explore. However, the way you're explaining how you want to approach this sounds like it can be taken in an interesting direction. I'm wondering, will it be formatted like an advertisement against advertisement? Or an image simply speaking on the void thats not being filled by all of these "things" .... many directions it can go. I'm excited to see where you take it.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Somehow it is morbidly funny, because it is sad at the same time. Irony always works. Love the idea of mixing and mashing logos and brands, subverting the message. Major red flags should be watching the resolution you are working with, assuming the images will be lifted (sigh). Bring them into a stretched canvas at the right rez and see what you have-- most are very low rez and not designed for print. Do not trust what you see on screen cause the screens are low rez as well and do not tell you what the print will look like. 150 dpi is an absolute minimum for the printers we are targeting. great ideas, nice research.
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