Tag Archives: Simon Houpt

politics, cash & art: from sublime to ridiculous

Is it the commodification of everything? Sometimes its hard to tell the difference between the programming and the commercials, with sometimes the latter being more authentic and less predictable since it sometimes captures fragments of the cultural dialogue that the … Continue reading

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smelly little orthodoxies

Probably the best piece yet on Hitchens since it places him within a wider context than the sniping and nitpicking that has been the norm on the left, or better yet the left-left,that endless recess of bourgeois values, the browned-out … Continue reading

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evil genius as madly creative

Is creativity always beneficial? Does it always lead to good outcomes? The study was called the dark side of creativity: original thinkers can be more dishonest. No, it was not written by Edgar Allan Poe, but it would make a … Continue reading

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all american : leave the negative baggage at home

Its a trifling matter, yet it also a profound issue.  Part is a deeper antagonism towards religious differences, which to a writer like Harold Bloom are essentially so far removed from its origins as to be meaningless. Much is in … Continue reading

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notes from the dark streets

A new creative commons? …Kicking the bullies in the jewels. polishing the diamonds with a good swift spring of the leg. There are the possibilities of an artistic creed of pessimism, however it appears to negate the undeniably fruitful manner … Continue reading

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brand wash redemption

The commodification of subjectivity. The critique of commodity psychology inevitably seems to be displaced and fractured, distorted, by the seductive appeal with which the commodity is portrayed: usually a fragmented fetish object from which different narratives emerge… From Joseph Heller … Continue reading

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skin deep

Its at the nexus, that volatile inflection point between emotion and capitalism somehow tied into the fascist aryan ideal of beauty. A world of choreography following the Leni Riefenstahl template. I faintly remember my grandmother pushing me to eat, to … Continue reading

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and now a word from our sponsors…

Is advertising destructive? Its an almost half-a-trillion dollar a year business. All for the sake of peddling goods and services. When you think about the societal allocation of resources; basically to reinforce and expand consumerism and establish rank and status … Continue reading

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eska : protecting whose purity?

Access to clean, safe drinking water is the exception and not the rule in many aboriginal communities in Canada. In this country of vast mineral wealth, it is most appalling. Water usage and bulk water sales are a sensitive issue, … Continue reading

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fear of a children’s planet: the customer is kid

Whats always fascinating, often in equal measure, is disturbing. This is particularly so with the use of children in advertising, in art, and in the broader context. At one end of this seamy world, is the Charlie Sheen archetype, that … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema/Visual/Audio, Feature Article, Ideas/Opinion, Marketing/Advertising/Media, Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment