For instance, what you can get in Lagos [Nigeria] is infinitely varied, but what you get here is a deliberate narrowing — an undoing of variety to clarify brands and identities. That is the ambiguity of this moment: on the one hand, the possibilities are becoming limitless, but at the same time, the choices are becoming more coherent — they form a single pattern, address a single group, and are becoming more exclusive.
People have been concerned with finding their place in a physical, political or social space for a long time. For example, all of Velasquez’s paintings are concerned with spatial problems. Space was like glue. Our problems are different now. They date back to 1972, the year the last few radical architecture groups disappeared and Spielberg, Lukas, Scorsese and Coppola took over Hollywood. Some could precisely date it at 3:32 pm on July 15, 1972 when the Pruit-Igo housing development was blasted in St Louis, Missouri. It had been a prize-winning example of the clean-lined, boxy, international style of architecture and what architects called a “machine for living”. By 1972 it was considered a failure. People hated it and the city declared it uninhabitable. The same year Robert Venturi declared that most people’s ideas were closer to Disneyland or Las Vegas than to a modern glass-box apartment.
It’s hard to think about the present because the past always glows.
In the good old days before cappuccino and sushi and ruccola went global. Well before red peppers spiced up our salads. Before adventure became a sport, and nature became a spot. In the good old days the Paris Metro smelled like cigarettes and lofts were reserved for only the New-York elite. Before seat belts beeped when they weren’t fastened and spies really did come from the cold. Before cell phone conversations were banned on trains. Before googling became an aspect of human behavior. In the good old days when every second person was not a hero and every third was not a victim and every fourth was not stressed. Before we had an identity on line. Before toll-free numbers were delocalized and sent to Africa or India. Before the idea of a preemptive war existed. Before we thought there would never be any billionaires in Moscow. Before beach volleyball and snowboarding became Olympic sports. Before fusion cooking and before liquid nitrogen was used to make minute ice cream. Before you could get an espresso in Hamburg or Milwaukee. When Thai food was exotic and cholesterol a curious word used only for Scrabble games. In the good old days when people walked on the moon and snow covered London for weeks during Christmas time. No, it’s too far away, I don’t remember all that. It never happened.
A time when things were not weird, but strange, and then they were really strange, a David Lynch kind of strangeness. In those disconnected days before Blackberries and SPVs. Before voicemail became the interlocutors in our lives. Before Gollum appeared on the screen. What a great actor. Before the Euro and before a wall was erected in Israel. Before democracy and free market became the only alternative. When New Zealand was not yet known as the set of The Lord of The Rings. Before people started using “like” to make similes about anything and everything. Before Shrek appeared on screen and everyone loved him because like us, he doesn’t understand any metaphors. When you could smoke in bars in New York and Los Angeles. Before the Bush Dynasty. when Schwarzenegger was the Terminator and not a governor. Before IPods, EBay, Viagra and spell-check. Before Western architects were lining up to build towers in China. Before people start ordering salads at McDonald’s. Before music became our soundtrack. Before clothing became a costume. Before we start looking at the world as a standing stock of material. Before the word “tree” did not mean “wood”.
Also, it’s strange how the banksy aesthetic is being occupied by both Hollywood (Shoot Em Up: http://youtube.com/watch?v=jlx4n_ibNZE) and by people like Klein and Cuaron. The former isn’t so surprising, but isn’t banksy precisely the kind of culture jamming turn urban marketing that Klein spoke so cautiously about in No Logo? The visual arts still seem to be just a seagull on the progressive radar.
Just a reminder of technology I’ve absorbed growing up and will need to account for soon.
From Wikipedia - Generation Y was the first generation to use or witness the following technology from an early age:
• The Internet, especially the World Wide Web, in a more prolific form for the general user (’consumer’-friendly) rather than technically oriented. (about 1994 onwards)
• PCs with modern operating systems and mouse-based point-and-click GUIs, requiring fewer keyboard skills. (late 1980s and onwards)
• Sophisticated computer graphics in many video games, animated movies and television shows. (late ’80s to mid ’90s) (and the related non-keyboard interfaces)
• Digital cable (mid ’90s and onwards)
• Cellular phones. (late ’80s and onwards)
• Instant messaging. (late ’90s and onwards)
• DVDs (1996 and onwards)
• Digital Audio Players (most commonly MP3 players) (1997 and onwards)
• TiVo and other such DVR devices. (1999 and onwards)
• HDTV (2001 and onwards)
• Broadband Internet (early 2000s)
• Digital Cameras (early 1990s)
• Robotic and digital pets (1990s-Tamagotchi, Furby/2000s-Robosapien (V2,V3), Aibo, Poo-chi, i-Dog, Pixel Chix, Neopets, Webkinz, and I-Cybie)
• Camera phones (early 2000s)
• Text Messaging (early 2000s in the U.S.)
• Social Networking (late 90s and onward)
• 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life, Entropia Universe, and There (early-mid 2000s)
• Web 2.0 (mid 2000s)
• GPS (2000s)
• Multi-use multimedia devices (2000s)
• Satellite radio (2002 and onwards)
• Online gaming (1996 and onwards)
• Mainstream Usage of Touch Screens (early 2000s)
• Increased surveillance by their baby boomer parents, such as GPS tracking, internet-enabled home camera systems, internet monitoring, and cellphone monitoring. (This has led to a backlash, as many members of Gen Y view these technological advances as infringing on their personal rights) (2000s)
• Domestic robots such as Roomba, Scooba, and RoboMower (2000s)
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So it’s a big fucking thrill for me to see that in Danny Boyle’s Sunshine, everyone dies. Some die in heroic fashion, some die in acts of extraordinary violence, but all the deaths belong to a collective cause. Even more thrilling was to see characters approach death actively, in advance of the plot’s action. There’s a scene in which the crew hold a symbolic vote for killing off an inoperative member in order to ensure that there is enough oxygen to complete their mission. Cillian Murphy swiftly says, “Kill him.” The viewer never feels that Murphy’s brevity implies a coldness or an absence of compassion; this is just how one should act. As a twist, the crew soon discover that the inoperative member has already slit his wrists and bled to death. Chris Evans remarks, “He took responsibility,” understanding just as well that a consciousness for self sacrifice is as necessary as a consciousness for performing violence on another.
Even if we cannot yet locate a place for the spirit of sacrifice in our contemporary times, it is very positive to see a film that portrays a future in which sacrifice is our only ethical option. Thumbs up!
Leave it to PT Anderson to release a movie trailer with cuts longer than .5 seconds and absolutely no music. It’s refreshing to finally hear sound design NOT in competition with a Linkin Park chorus or a Kronos Quartet remix.
Beautiful.
In the United States, all U.S. television broadcasts will be exclusively digital as of February 17, 2009, by order of the Federal Communications Commission. This deadline was signed into law in early 2006. Furthermore, as of March 1, 2007, all new television sets that can receive signals over-the-air, including pocket-sized portable televisions, must include digital or HDTV tuners so they can receive digital broadcasts. Currently, most U.S. broadcasters are beaming their signals in both analog and digital formats; a few are digital-only. Citing the bandwidth efficiency of digital TV, after the analog switch-off, the FCC will auction off channels 52–59 (the lower half of the 700 MHz band) for other communications traffic, completing the reallocation of broadcast channels 52–69 that began in the late 1990s. The analog switch-off ruling, which so far has met with little opposition from consumers or manufacturers, would render all non-digital televisions dark and obsolete on the switch-off date unless connected to an external tuner or analog cable television. The FCC has determined that an external tuning device can simply be added to non-digital televisions to lengthen their useful lifespan. However, as of May 2007, external tuning devices are not widely available, are relatively expensive, and require bulky AC power supplies.[citation needed] Starting in 2008, the government will take requests from households for up to two coupons to reduce the price of some converter boxes by $40. Currently, even the earliest televisions continue to work with present broadcast standards. This mandate was designed to help provide a painless transition to the new standard.
Towards a materialist virtuality…