Barbara Kruger, Untitled (I shop therefore I am), 1987 (via annjones)
Any kid who grew up in the city before the arrival of McDonald’s and the “big box” stores selling books, beds and bath towels can tell you how strange a first trip to a shopping mall was. For us, shopping was synonymous with striding through the city. One day we could cruise a Fifth Avenue department store, just like Lauren Bacall in a career-gal movie, and later spend hours in an Eighth Street bookshop, displaying a genuine interest in the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. In the city our shopping opportunities had history. We never chose a restaurant because it looked like other restaurants. We chose it because it was different.