Artist Jenny Holzer put up an illuminated billboard in Times Square in 1986 as part of her well known "Survival" series. The imperative "Protect me from what I want" called attention to the intrusion of advertising, the commercial exploitation of public space, and our helplessness within the situation. Now appreciators of art can own that experience for themselves and support the Whitney Museum by purchasing a pair of Keds sneakers. Get them at Bloomingdale's starting 8 July, $75 for high tops, $70 for low tops. As Tom Scocca pointed out, buying shoes emblazoned with messages about mass market consumption prices are essentially announcing that you, the consumer, paid a mark-up of 100%.
The Holzer designed sneakers. Image from the New York Times.
Welcome to the 25th anniversary celebration of American consummerism critique. Buy your special deluxe edition of Don DeLillo's White Noise now. Maybe we would do better to retreat all the way back to the nineteenth century and the foundational sociology of Georg Simmel on the "tragedy of culture." I may get to when I finish listening to Naomi Klein on my iPod.
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