Bridge#3_Taxonomy_20_Questions

 

Questions:

1. If I’m to explore the crowd effect in consumption, what examples should I know?
2. If I’m to explore the modern symbols created by manufacture, what shapes are the most significant?
3. If I’m to explore Consumerism with the symbol of hand, how do I make it less misleading to the social bias?
4. If I’m to bring contrast between consumerism and religion, which one shall be symbol and which one shall be real?
5. How can I express Consumerism through packaging?
6. Why is talking about money a taboo in such a Consumerism driven society?
7. If I’m to contrast Consumerism in the past and now, what past art and events should I know to bring into?
8. How do I express that the politics are tightly connected to businesses?
9. If I’m to say that love is related to Consumerism, what symbols are there?
10. How do I show the crowd effect?
11. If Consumerism means making unnecessary purchase, is red better than gold?
12. If I’m to explore the waste in Consumerism, shall it be visually messy or arranged like display?
13. If I’m to explore the massive consumers, how do I highlight the rush visually?
14. If I’m to explore Consumerism in the under age generation, what products is there?
15. Is gold better than red when talking about greed?
16. Is the relationship between Consumerism and religion contrary?
17. If I’m to explore the cultural consumption, what stories in this system shall I know?
18. Is the relationship between Consumerism and religion complementary?
19. Is the window displays supposed to be art for beauty or design for attraction?
20. How do I make art out of the display of receipts?

 

Taxonomy

Reflection

• I visited various locations, including the St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Apple Stores, Sephora, Chinatown, Strand, etc. I find that no matter these places are supposed to be commercial or not, they all have signs of advertisement.
• For example, in the church which should be sacred and clean off anything secular, has this candle box right at the entrance, which has a brand name printed gold on top. Also, at the bookstore where it’s also supposed to be a sacred place for knowledge, the place is developing itself into a brand selling the products (tote bags, mugs, pins) along with the books, while the big red “50% off” is more eye catching than the books themselves, at least to me.
• I found this really ironic, and deepens my understanding of a Consumerism society means that, knowledge, belief, and descendants are all driven by the endless desire of acquisition.
• The symbols, due to my topic, is pretty modern, including shopping cart, apple logo, $, the colour gold, blurred figures which represents the gold rush. There’s also durer’s hand and baby angles to represent religion. I also created my own symbol in this project: the hollow and indifferent cartoonish figure, to stand for the crowd in this system.
• The Monday’s feedback is pretty goos, it sounds like everyone more or less get my point. They pointed out that endless desire to “buy more stuffs” leads to the crowd being “unified”, and as people use substance to identify themselves, there is a emerging “lack of uniqueness”; they say that “even politics has” a large part of consideration of consumption. Though I didn’t found the critique very helpful, it ensured me that I’m moving on the right track.