Thesis Book: Brandon Washington by Design Observer

THE SPECTACLE BY BRANDON WASHINGTON

THE SPECTACLE RESEARCH

ROB WALKER Author, Journalist, & Educator Contributing writer for New York Times Blogger for Design Observer & Yahoo

Rob Walker wrote a column for The New York Times Magazine called “Consumed.” I reached out to him to ask about the spectacle and consumerism. I needed reassurance that this is a real problem. Walker said, “It’s a first world problem, but the world is moving into a more spectacle way. And it is being embraced with opened arms. A lot of people are lost. (It is a) Legit thing to address. People want to be influenced and they’re grasping for meaning and using consumption to find meaning. How can we find more meaning other than point of purchase.” – Rob Walker This statement gave me confidence that his topic can be tackled by design. But it also made me think about the issue he presents in his book. In his book, Walker defined a product as successful once it is capable of being tied to an idea. Branding is the key to making this work. Whether consumers admit it to pollsters, they consume ideas by consuming the product. Walker calls this the “buy-in.” He says, “Consumerism, it’s where we live on a day to day basis. What other ideas are there other than buy more Coke? Branding is attaching ideas to things. What other ideas can you sell?” Walker said to get consumers to think differently they will need to be given something else to consume. One must fight fire with fire.

“PEOPLE WANT TO BE INFLUENCED AND THEY'RE GRASPING FOR MEANING BUT ARE USING CONSUMPTION TO FIND IT.” - ROB WALKER

SKETCHES Prototyping is a large part of designâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s research process. To imagine this thesis as final offerings I looked at potential lenses. This includes a social enterprise, a digital component, speculative objects, sketches, branding, and a press release. Findings and feedback generated from projects become vital to my final offerings. I began the process of developing lenses through sketching. Sketching help me formulate ideas and directions. From these sketches pulled out the interesting ones and created prototypes out of them.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

THE SPECTACLE POTENTIAL LENSES

THE LAST MILE With this project I wanted to take some of the power that designers have and give it the consumer with a project called the Last Mile. It is a name tag label to claim ownership of the clothing that we purchase instead of the producers or designerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name. The Last Mile is shifting the power to the consumer by giving them ownership to present, curate, and realize their own spectacle. In doing so the clothes become less about the maker and more about the wearer. With this power comes responsibility, the responsibility of understanding where the clothes come from and who created and produced them. Partnering with a company like Zady would be perfect. Zady is a fashion conscious retailer who presents customers the origins of each piece of clothing that they sell. To take the concept further, I can imagine that all the proceeds could go to a non-profit like Boot Strap that helps under privileged creatives realize their dreams of being designers.

LANDSCAPE

THE SPECTACLE GOALS, OBJECTIVES, & INTENTIONS

DETOURNMENT In order to begin to take steps towards these goals, I looked outward. Shedding light on society’s power and control structures has been a goal of many great thinkers and visionaries before me. Groups such as the Situationist International headed by Guy Debord have attempted to create a lifestyle that goes against societies built on capitalism. The group used detournment (French for re-routing or hacking), which is a method of propaganda that turns expression of the capitalist system and the culture against itself — turning things like slogans and logos against their advertisers or the political status quo. Artist like Barbara Kruger used this technique in her artwork during the 80’s and 90’s to create awareness of consumerism, gender equality, construction of power, and HIV/Aids. This technique is an effective method to draw people in with familiar visuals and language. * Photo credit New York Times - Tobias Wong inside the Wrong Store

THE WRONG STORE Artist like The Yes Men, Improv Everywhere, Tobias Wong, and Banksy take their respective mediums (performing, design, and graffiti) and put them into new contexts to create more impactful meaning. In order for a concept like this to be successful, the creator must find a context that makes sense. A good example is Tobias Wong’s and Gregory Krum’s project, The Wrong Store. The store housed art, design and fashion pieces, but it was always closed. This left shoppers helpless in the terms of actually obtaining the beautifully curated pieces created by some of the design and art world’s most premier creators. The reason why this project was

so successful was the hand-picked products and the store’s context: it “opened” its doors during design week for a limited time and was presented in an actual store in West Chelsea, which is an area that houses an audiences that would be captivated by a stunt of this nature. The context was perfect for this project, and the hard work of putting all of these moving parts together logistically was astonishing. It required collaboration with others in order to make the idea a realization. All of these factors together made for a strong gesture of protecting people from the irresistible urge to buy products. 71

THE SPECTACLE FINAL DESIGN OFFERINGS

SHOWMEN The smartphone has allowed for multiple ways for communicating with others through media. At the same time, it has made humans become voyeuristic while consuming content in a bubble. But what if we turned the phone over and wore our content on our chest? This is a social behavior I propose for Showmen.

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I care about laughing out loud and spending time with my family and friends. Daydreaming and imagining things that don’t exist. I care about working hard and making those dreams a reality through art and design. I love art and the spaces of questioning and realization that art can occupy. Design. Especially design that applies conceptual thinking. I care about free thinking, critical thinking, and lofty theories and philosophies that makes your mind unravel. Music….I have to listen to music. And of course SEX. VIEW SOURCE

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They bring joy and happiness to my life. It gives me purpose and a reason to wake up in the morning. These things inspire me. These things give me the energy to keep going. They make my time useful. They keep my life from being miserable and boring. They keep me active rather than living passively.

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I grew up being a silly kid and it has carried over to my adulthood. And having a laid back attitude and not taking life too seriously has always been my MO. Laughing and playing around makes everything that has been weighing me down disappear for a moment. This is a similar thing that happens when I create things. I don’t know what I would be doing if I didn’t have creativity in my life. Art and design is a useful tool to me that lets me express myself and my desires. I love a great mind fuck! Subjects like critical theory, symbiotics, space, philosophy just take me down a rabbit hole that I love to explore. Music is able to do all of things I have said previously. It can take you anywhere that you want to go. There is something about music that has an instant connection with people. Sex is just the ultimate.

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I believe these things open up new possibilities. There is so much tightness in the world and acceptance of the status quo, it makes everything so static and stiff. I believe that creativity breaks barriers and breaks the status quo. Things like money and the things that come with it creates these benchmarks for our lives that are empty. Working hard at something you love is fulfilling. Some of us lose the lust to explore and discover. We need to see more alternatives. We need to actively seek alternatives. We should revolutionize everyday life. CONTACT ABOUT JOBS

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This will make the world less boring to be honest. There is a cycle of what we call the norm that is go to school, get a job, get married, have kids, and repeat. Reading a book like Guy Debord’s Society of the Spectacle makes your mind wander and question theLOG world. OUT Artist groups like DADA treat their life like it was a piece of art…..always exploring…..always active…..taking their passions and creating a life out of it….truly enjoying their lives. The world should have this mindset. I understand that their is a need for responsibility but there is a much bigger need to enjoy the life you have. I believe if you are super passionate about your life it will make you want to help others get to their true passions.

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I grew up being a silly kid and it has car over to my adulthood. And having a laid attitude and not taking life too seriously always been my MO. Laughing and play around makes everything that has been weighing me down disappear for a mom This is a similar thing that happens whe create things. I don’t know what I would doing if I didn’t have creativity in my lif Art and design is a useful tool to me tha me express myself and my desires. I love great mind fuck! Subjects like critical th symbiotics, space, philosophy just take m down a rabbit hole that I love to explore Music is able to do all of things I have s previously. It can take you anywhere tha want to go. There is something about m that has an instant connection with peop

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