The idea that we can “green” a capitalist economy without radically rethinking the basic premises at the heart of neoliberal economic theory is truly an example of misplaced politics. The system is premised upon a model of endless growth, competition, private property and consumer citizenship, all of which combine to produce a terribly exploitative, oppressive and violent structure that has come to infuse all aspects of everyday life.
Adrian Parr, “Our Crime Against the Planet, and Ourselves,” 2016
Follies as ruins, or as imitations of ruins, became the vehicles for such instant nostalgia encouraged by historicist regrets and supported by consumerist atavism. Here the Baroque cult of ruins was transformed from a simply relished fragmentation, a sense of the transience of history and the mortality of man into a ‘history lesson.’
This is where the tram would go. This is the heart of our Mother Earth. This is a sacred area. It is going to be true destruction.
Renae Yellowhorse, On the Grand Canyon Escalade, 2014
Fifteen years ago, the term “greenwashing” entered the O.E.D. Since then, the ongoing, increasingly mainstream, and often cosmetic use of ecological correctness as a selling point has led to some jadedness in the marketplace. Overwhelmingly, though, greenwashing has succeeded, creating a complacent class of consumer able to justify just about any material want so long as it is “sustainable.”
Making art in the twenty-first century is just the same as making art in any other century, except for the money that coats everything like ash.
Richard Flood, "Not About Mel Gibson" from Unmonumental, 2007
nickkahler reblogged
We are no longer in a state of growth; we are in a state of excess. We no longer know how we can possibly use up all these accumulated things; we no longer even know what they are for.
nickkahler reblogged
Jun Aoki, White Chapel, Osaka, Japan, 2004 (via subtilitas)
Jun Aoki plays with light through modularity and ocular effects, but independent of programmatic content. The Marxist argument says this decision equates a church with a clothing store and religion with production and consumption. The phenomenological argument says that all buildings, not just those historically deemed sacred spaces such as temples and museums (dwellings of the muses), deserve experiential and sensual customization. One of the best aspects of contemporary architecture is both arguments are equally valid.
nickkahler reblogged
Robert A.M. Stern, Facade for Best Products, 1979 (via archiveofaffinities)
What is metaphysical planning, and can I get one designed by Michael Graves at Target?
Jeff Pittman, Atlanta Skyline, 2012
City of Atlanta, List of "Things to Do in Atlanta, GA," 2012
- Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum (Museum, Grant Park)
- Atlanta Preservation Center Guided Walking Tours (Historical Monument, Downtown)
- Centennial Olympic Park (Park, Downtown)
- Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (Park, OTP - Dunwoody?)
- CNN Studio Tour (Consumerist Complex, Downtown)
- Center for Puppetry Arts (Entertainment Facility, Midtown)
- Fernbank Museum of Natural History (Museum, Druid Hills)
- Georgia Aquarium (Entertainment Facility, Downtown)
- Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta (Museum, Downtown)
- Jimmy Carter Library and Museum (Museum, Freedom Park)
- King Center (Historical Monument, Sweet Auburn)
- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (Consumerist Complex, Midtown)
- Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site (Historical Monument, Sweet Auburn)
- Piedmont Park (Park, Midtown)
- SciTrek-Georgia's Technology Adventure (CLOSED Entertainment Facility, Midtown)
- Six Flags Over Georgia (Entertainment Facility, OTP - Woodland Hills?)
- Stone Mountain Park (Park, OTP - Stone Mountain)
- Six Flags White Water (Entertainment Facility, OTP - Marietta)
- The Varsity (Consumerist Complex, Midtown)
- World of Coca-Cola (Consumerist Complex, Downtown)
- Wren's Nest (Historical Monument, West End)
- Zoo Atlanta (Entertainment Facility, Grant Park)
This list can be refined into five generic categories:
- Museums (4/22 = 18.2%)
- Historical Monuments (4/22 = 18.2%)
- Parks (4/22 = 18.2%)
- Consumerist Complexes (5/22 = 21.7%)
- Entertainment Facilities (5/22 = 21.7%)
As well as categorized by district location:
- Downtown (6/22 = 27.3%)
- Midtown (5/22 = 21.7%)
- OTP - Outside the Perimeter / I-285 (4/22 = 18.2%)
- Grant Park (2/22 = 9.1%)
- Sweet Auburn (2/22 = 9.1%)
- Druid Hills (1/22 = 4.5%)
- Freedom Park (1/22 = 4.5%)
- West End (1/22 = 4.5%)
This list of "fun activities" generates some fascinating conclusions not only about Atlanta but the nature of tourism in the United States and potentially internationally.
First, it displays the governmental understanding of their own city's amenities, prioritizing them only alphabetically, as opposed to some feigned notion of importance. This choice could perhaps be the best one, as an alphabetical approach allows each person to scan the list for items that they find most interesting. Nonetheless, those earlier in the alphabet are subsequently prioritized by being toward the beginning.
Second, it both undermines and supports a generalist notion of the city of Atlanta as composed of three major districts: Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead. It supports the list by having Downtown and Midtown as the first and second most mentioned districts, but undermines that same argument by not containing one mention of Buckhead on the list. However, one might posit the inclusion of the Lenox Square / Phipps Plaza "Consumerplex" as a destination worth including for those interested in popular, if generic, shopping.
Third, it understands the city of Atlanta principally as a building- or complex-dominated archipelago, where, to use Kevin Lynch's terms from The Image of the City (1960), districts, paths, and edges recede in prominence to nodes and landmarks. Established paths, such as the Midtown Mile, and districts, such as Inman Park, Old Fourth Ward, or Little Five Points, are deemed generally unremarkable. Peachtree Street, the economic, cultural, and density generator of the city, is unreferenced as none of these attractions occur on it. Edges, which in most cities are often created by water, are used principally as paths and are thus equally unremarkable, such as the Downtown Connector (I-75-85) or perhaps DeKalb Avenue. Atlanta's main source of water, the Chattahoochee River, which one could understand as an edge, is not considered, or if so, through the limited and pretreated lens of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. It is not recommended visiting the Chattahoochee at its closest location to downtown, the industrial wastelands where Marietta Boulevard NW turns into South Atlanta Road SE near Bolton Road. Additionally, although the noted Atlanta attraction Six Flags Over Georgia is located directly on the Chattahoochee, there is no advertising for it, proliferating Atlanta's ignorance of this unnavigable river.
Fourth, notably missing from this list includes four of the most prominent cultural entities of Atlanta, all located in Midtown: the High Museum, the Woodruff Arts Center, the Fox Theatre, and the Boisfeuillet Jones Civic Center. These institutions provide the core physical manifestation of the arts in the city of Atlanta.
Fifth, it contains one distination that is no longer open, the SciTrek-Georgia's Technology Adventure, which closed around 2005. This fact indicates that either this list is outdated and that the government does not mind advertising it. In this same vein, new attractions such as the Beltline obviously didn't make the list.
Sixth, it also neglects the prominence of educational facilites and their innumerable activities: Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Atlanta University Center, Emory University, and SCAD Atlanta. These institutions, especially Georgia State, have made dramatic improvements in the urbanization of the city.
Seventh, it ignores the role of the event in the city, physically manifest through such structures as the Georgia Dome, Turner Field, and Philips Arena. Atlanta has many reasons to consider itself a major American city, and the presence of three major sports teams, the Falcons, Braves, and Hawks all contribute to that argument. Additional performance venues, such as Aaron's Amphitheatre in Lakewood (1989), Delta Classic Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Buckhead (1998), and Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park in Alpharetta (2008), are also discluded.
Eighth, the argument for the success of Atlanta potentially posits the inclusion of the major transportation hubs of the city. Currently, the Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the only hub worth mentioning, and it pales in comparison to something like Grand Central Station in Manhattan. The current proposal for the MultiModal Passenger Terminal in the Gulch has the potential to reorganize several flagging methods of transport (intercity rail, intracity rail, and bus), rebuild a district, and, least importantly, create a signature monument for Atlanta. Not that we need to build any more museums, but one cataloguing the history and current ideology concerning transportation and movement could be another fascinating programmatic interjection into the city's attraction list.
Atlanta is a complex city, filled with innumerable entities that both merit recognition and deserve massive reconsideration. Its potential, according to Boosterist logic, is unlimited, but its populace remains divided on many of the principal issues. One main issue continues to be a dramatic distrst of goverment, a national concern and one that affects the city unequivocally, such as with the recent failure of the T-SPLOST referendum this past summer.
John Carpenter, Screenshot from They Live featured in Bomb It, 2007
'In a manifesto Shepard Fairey wrote in 1990, and since posted on his website, he links his work with MartinHeidegger's concept of phenomenology. His "Obey" Campaign draws from the John Carpenter movie They Live which starred pro wrestler Roddy Piper, taking a number of its slogans, including the "Obey" slogan, as well as the "This is Your God" slogan. Fairey has also spun off the OBEY clothing line from the original sticker campaign. He also uses the slogan "The Medium is the Message" borrowed from Marshall McLuhan.'
John Carpenter, Screenshot from They Live featured in Bomb It, 2007