Society Of Spectacle Research Articles

ФЛЕШМОБ ЯК СПЕКТАКУЛЯРНИЙ ВИДОВИЩНО-ІГРОВИЙ РІЗНОВИД ПОЛІТИЧНОГО АКЦІОНІЗМУ

The aim of the article is to deepen the theoretical and methodological concepts regarding the essence of political flash mob (political mob) as a spectacular and game- like variety of political actionism, to define the modern types of political mobs. The research methodology is based on: the model of society of spectacle (G. Debord); the simulation model (J. Baudrillard); the individualized society model (Z. Bauman); the model of society of interactive spectacle (S. Best, D. Kellner) etc. The methodology synthesized the theoretical and methodological concepts of symbolic interactionism, postmodernism and post-structuralism. The scientific novelty lies in the author’s original analysis of political mobs as a spectacular and game-like variety of political actionism technology, which consists of one-time or wave-like conduction of short-term dramatized mass actions according to a pre-agreed scenario. Conclusions. The analysis showed that political mob is a spectacular network interaction, performed on the basis of horizontal social communications. The author defined the following features of political mob: non-institutional character; organization through online resources; spectacularity, pronounced game context; chronometricty etc. There are following varieties of modern political mobs: “silent” flash mobs, online flash mobs (i-mob); wave-like relay and others. It is noted that the vast majority of political flash mobs are peaceful in their nature. It is emphasized that in some countries flash mobs are considered equal to protest actions, such as rallies and pickets, therefore their spontaneous self-organization is forbidden.

Guy Debord 2.0: hacia un an�lisis de la mercantilizaci�n de la subjetividad en las redes sociales

In this paper, I propose to critically update the concept of spectacle coined by Guy Debord in his work ‘The society of spectacle’. By means of this concept, I suggest to interpret the practices of self-promotion in the web 2.0 as a form of identity commodification. To this effect, the concept of spectacle is described as the critique of an ideology that transforms human relations into relations between commodities. Afterwards, I examine how this ideology might be influencing how individuals articulate their identity in social networks. Finally, some problems are raised in relation to how Debord understands ideology, suggesting different ways to rescue the critical and analytical potential of his proposal.

Konsenzus kompetentnih diskutanata - medijska interpretacija istine

Starting from the linguistic-analytical philosophy which emphasizes the truth of 'a consensus reached within the circle of competent panelists' in a certain context and a certain period of time, through a sort of a dialogue in which the sender of the message is not only willing to tell the truth but also to disprove the opposed statement, which indicates that there is no absolute but only partial truth, to a media interpretation that emphasizes the veracity of the message, reaching the truth as a standard of profession seems to be yet another unfulfilled ambition. Interpretation of reality which, together with the media spectacle, has fully occupied the leisure time of the media audiences, has expanded its offer of the media-shaped manipulative forms in a global environment. Although it seemed that the media performances which abolished dialogue would falter due to the Internet communication, it turned out that interaction became an illusion of dialogue without the opportunity of reaching the truth. The paper deals with the reexamination of the method of media interpretation of truth in the media-mediated reality of the society of spectacle and the civilization of the image in the entertainment and dream industry.

‘Gand a fini par faire comme les autres.’ De opkomst van het café-concert en variététheater in de laatnegentiende- eeuwse Gentse ‘spektakelmaatschappij’

‘Gand a fini par faire comme les autres.’ The rise of the cafe-concert and variety theatre in late nineteenth-century Ghent’s ‘society of the spectacle’ Cafes-concerts and variety theatre have generally received only a cursory mention within the vast litera-ture on the late nineteenth-century culture of spectacle in Europe’s major cities. This article uses Ghent as a case study to demonstrate that even in provincial towns, there was an abundance of spectacle avai-lable to the public during this era. Cafes-concerts and variety theatre played a particularly significant role and were closely interwoven with the spectacular urban renewal that took place in Ghent during the late nineteenth century. In addition, these forms of entertainment carried the seeds of the type of mass spectacle that would emerge in the twentieth century. Why, then, have the cafe-concert and variety theatre gone unexplored by academics for so long? In an attempt to answer this question, this article offers a means for identifying these two specific forms of spectacle in major urban centres and provincial towns in Belgium and abroad, thereby enabling a more thorough exploration of the phenomenon based on a wide range of sources. This, in turn, will allow the cafe-concert and variety theatre to emerge from obscu-rity and take their rightful place in the debate on the modern ‘society of the spectacle’.

Imagem e Política: o caso da imagem fotojornalística de Aylan Kurdi

A relação entre imagem e política é tema deste artigo, sendo que o termo imagem, neste contexto, designa representações visuais, como desenhos, pinturas, gravuras, fotografias e imagens cinematográficas, televisivas, holo e infográficas. Com o objetivo de precisar a relação entre imagem e política para uma imagem dita intolerável, na perspectiva de Rancière, apresentam-se, inicialmente, ideias de Debord sobre o papel da imagem na sociedade do espetáculo. Na contramão de tais ideias vem a proposta de Rancière, notadamente com o conceito de imagem intolerável, que permite refletir sobre a política da imagem. Deste modo, o corpus constitui-se da imagem fotojornalística do corpo do menino Aylan Kurdi, por Nilüfer Demir, e de outras duas imagens publicadas na Folha de S.Paulo, após a divulgação da primeira foto pelas mídias de diversos cantos do mundo. Como resultado, vê-se que essas imagens, geradas a partir da primeira imagem fotojornalística, que amenizam o caráter indicial e caminham para além da imagem intolerável, têm potencial para levar o intérprete do intolerável na imagem para um contexto mais amplo, para a seara da política.

¿Me da una Mirinda? Constantes en el cine de Álex de la Iglesia

Este artículo analiza el primer cortometraje de Álex de la Iglesia, Mirindas asesinas (1991), evidenciando las constantes de la filmografía del director vasco, cómo desde esta primera obra su lectura sobre la sociedad española y su relación con el pasado, o su inmersión en la sociedad del espectáculo está presente. Del mismo modo ocurre con la manera de evidenciar o desvelar esas temáticas, no de manera directa sino a partir de un cine de entretenimiento, haciendo uso de un particular sentido del humor y utilizando para ello la caricatura, el esperpento y la violencia.

Afterword: The New-Old Media

Afterword: The New-Old Media

“Viimne reliikvia” ja “Kolme katku vahel”: ruumist eesti ajalookirjanduse ekraniseeringutes / The Last Relic and Between Three Plagues: On Space in Film Adaptations of Estonian Historical Fiction

“Viimne reliikvia” ja “Kolme katku vahel”: ruumist eesti ajalookirjanduse ekraniseeringutes / The Last Relic and Between Three Plagues: On Space in Film Adaptations of Estonian Historical Fiction

Preobražaj umetnosti i novi teorijski diskursi

The author of this paper considers the connection between the transformation of art and the establishment of corresponding theoretical discourses. These discourses are observed side by side in the attempt to gain an insight into the adequacy and validity of the application of certain aesthetic principles with relation to the given artistic expression. The paper encompasses the period from the creation of modernist movements after World War I to the current postindustrial age ('the society of media and spectacle'), when art acquires its recognizable prefix 'post'. The author distinguishes and critically analyzes from a sociological-aesthetic standpoint three basic theoretical starting points: the starting point of the traditional (ontological) aesthetics, the aesthetics of the modern ('transaesthetics'), and the aesthetics of the postmodern (postaesthetics, 'postclassical aesthetics'). The representatives of the classical aesthetics (philosophers) mainly believe that the secret of art lies in the ontological sphere. They draw on the metaphysical components of art and insist on its universality, originality, and creative uniqueness, as well as traditional aesthetic values. In the aesthetics of the modern, the subject of art turns from the objective world towards itself; what is desired here is spontaneity and the freedom of expression, as well as following the principle which allows for a different perception and a large number of interpretations. That is why modern art deserves the tag avant-garde art. The era of this art is characterized by an outburst of numerous alternative artistic movements which bear a certain resemblance to the subcultural styles and subcultural practices. Finally, the aesthetics of the postmodern is the aesthetics of 'recognition', assumption and citation. Its basic postulate is eclecticism, and the intention of the protagonist of this movement is to give dignity back to the artistic project and position an idea within it. The purpose of the paper is to take a work of art from a certain period and observe and evaluate it sociologically on the basis of the patterns relevant to the given society, historical moment and aesthetic preferences.

The spectacle of politics: Wendy Davis, abortion, and pink shoes in the Texas ‘fillybuster’

Despite important inroads, women’s marginalization in the public sphere is still very real. From a feminist theoretical perspective, and informed by Guy Debord’s conceptualization of the society of spectacle, this study examines local and national newspaper coverage of Wendy Davis’s filibuster to block an abortion-restricting bill in the Texas State legislature in 2013. Qualitative and quantitative assessments show that gender was particularly encoded and marked in the mediated discourse, with reports focusing on Davis’ personal life and giving her celebrity status. The filibuster became a political spectacle that reified dominant gender values and norms.

The Concept of Nostalgia: Be Kind Rewind and the Reflection on the Case of ATV in Hong Kong 2015

Be Kind Rewind, as spoken by the film's title, one may understand the trick that hides behind as Rewind is also associated with the same consonance Remind telling us a film that shares the collective memory of the public. The concept of the Society of Spectacle is brought forward by Guy Debord 1970s, which he sheds lights on the class alienation, commodification of cultural products, Debord (7) as well as the role of media's metamorphosis staging the so called reality on TV, is considered to be a mainstream channel 1970s-1980s for people to obtain the news and enjoy entertainment. With this concept, we draw the central theme of discussing this with the film Be Kind Rewind which it stages how the antique video rental store is forced to be demolished and the adventure that the new generation helps renew the product and share the collective memory, going back to the theme of commodity fetishism that Jappe (16) put forward. From the view point of Theodor Adorno, in psycho-analysis nothing is true except the exaggeration and for film as a product, it also echoes with the idea of fetishism that stated by Wall (22). Here, the conflict of urbanization and modern development makes it an echo to the concept of the spectacle of making the class alienated through the commodification process of video rental store and also alienates the old people from the rapid development of the modern city. With the revival of reshooting the film with no budget, it connects closely to the concept of the work of art the age of mechanical reproduction that Walter Benjamin put forward that the unique existence of the work of the art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence, according to Benjamin (3). Most importantly, while we watch this film, the real life example that happens Hong Kong media industry would be Asia Television Limited (ATV) that they stage their Rescue Our ATV Show order to save their company by attracting the potential While this case connects with the aforementioned film, we can see actually what happen real life is the opposite. Nostalgia turns into a ridicule. From Jameson (15), postmodernism that the modernist engagement with art and culture is lost the recycling of things, past full of sentiments, but devoid of the critique, reflections. The television under such circumstance is not limited to provide information and showing the greatest entertainment programme but becomes a spectacle to ask for money yet not a glamourous and commoditized manner. In light of this, this research is going to explore how mechanical reproduction alienates our society from the real life and how commodification of cultural product especially Hong Kong TV industry make themselves become the spectacle this day and age by carrying out content and textual analysis of the above mentioned cases. It would offer a theoretical contribution which society of spectacle not only brings the success of TV industry but also actually polarizes the TV industry into the mass product and only through exposing its weakness to the audiences as to save the reputation and attract upcoming investors.

A Future Without Spectacle: A Refuge from Cultural Hegemony in Contemporary Art and Neo-Humanism

Abstract This paper explores possibilities for the future of popular culture. Central to the arguments in this paper, is the search for a remedy to a visual culture that has been left deconstructed and fragmented by a Western obsession with postmodernism. This paper begins with a discussion of Boris Groy’s “society of spectacle without spectators” (2012) and the ramifications of such an observation as homological to the state of contemporary art and the human subject. A discussion of the works of modern and contemporary artists is used to illustrate contemporary art’s metonymic relationship to the future of popular culture. Specific examples are explored such as German photographer and film maker Thomas Demand’s works that create a “critical fiction” Liljegren (2013) to highly engage the spectator and are juxtaposed with postmodern speculations such as Baudrillard’s simulacra.

The Convergence of Eco-Activism, Neoliberalism, and Reality TV in Whale Wars

a strange convergence arose in 2007 as Animal Planet, a subsidiary of Discovery Communications, hired Marjorie Kaplan as president and general manager to rebrand network's image and boost its ratings. Following on heels of popularity of Discovery's Deadliest Catch, a fishing show where crews encounter rough seas and salty personalities, Animal Planet was charged with creating highoctane, human-interest stories that could raise viewership for station.1At same time, Paul Watson, founder of nongovernmental organization (NGO) Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, was conceptualizing how his group's direct actions against illegal Japanese whaling in Southern Ocean might make good television. Watson, who has remained one of savviest activists in mobilizing video and film around animal rights campaigns since he first worked with Greenpeace in early 1970s, reflected, The biggest show on Discovery at time was about a bunch of men going into very rough waters in very remote areas and catching crabs. I said, 'Well, you know, we can go into even more remote waters, even rougher waters with worse weather conditions, and save whales' (Goh).As a result, in November 2008 Whale Wars premiered on Animal Planet. Within a year, it became network's most-watched show and helped raise viewership by over 15 percent (Crupi 6). Along similar lines, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society halved Japanese whaling during series' first four seasons and forced Japanese to temporarily stop whaling by February 2011 (Oliver). All in all, it appeared that good television and effective activism could coexist.In this article I investigate some of ways in which Sea Shepherd and Paul Watson employ a spectacle-driven activism in order to popularize their anti-whaling message and produce fodder for a reality television series. In particular, I locate two central themes and accompanying desires that connect certain anarchist-inflected brands of direct-action activism with commercial television: (1) reassertion of patriarchal authority and hierarchy in a seemingly feminized neoliberal age; and (2) attempt to establish a nonalienated life where work, leisure, and nature seamlessly interconnect. Whale Wars provides an interesting moment where a certain strain of direct action, activist media-making, and commercial television production converge. Unlike most research that contrasts radical media against commercial productions, an analysis of first five seasons of Whale Wars will explore how certain elements of each feed into one another and, more specifically, will demonstrate how reality television mobilizes a belief in a spectacle-based activism that simultaneously promotes and undermines such animal rights campaigns. Overall, Whale Wars demonstrates promises and pitfalls when such activism gains access to commercial mass distribution.2Image Events and Neoliberal Citizenry of Reality TelevisionAs Kevin DeLuca notes, groups such as Greenpeace, Animal Liberation Front, and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society rely primarily on direct-action image events to sustain, popularize, and build upon their activism. In a society of spectacle where one is awash in a constant sea of imagery, animal rights campaigns have used dramatic direct-action stunts in order to garner media coverage that challenges the hegemonic discourse of industrialism and received meanings of ideographs progress, nature, humanity, reason, and technology (DeLuca 51-52). Activism and spectacle suddenly become coterminous. Media coverage serves not as a byproduct of such activism but as a key ingredient in organizing it, popularizing its message, and hopefully forcing those who abuse animals and/or earth to stop under global public pressure and scrutiny.This type of image-based activism has been on ascendency since 1970s. As Hans Magnus Enzensberger observed back in 1970, [t]he question is therefore not whether media are manipulated, but who manipulates them. …

Suzanne Collins’ <i>Hunger Games</i> and the Society of the Spectacle

The theory of spectacle is introduced by Guy Debord in his famous book The Society of Spectacle. Debord presents the society of Spectacle as a mere representation of seemingly real images which is used by the capital for its own good. Spectacle consists of images such as games, entertainments or television shows which are political tools in the hands of the Capitol to stabilize its power. In fact, by applying these images through different exciting entertainments and shows, the Capitol disperses people more and destroys their unity so that people cannot be united to rebel against the Capitol’s power. This paper tries to apply the theory of spectacle to Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games and as the title of the novel is very telling of itself, it revolves around the annual event of Hunger Games connoting the starvation of the poor people in the twelve districts and the Capitol. The setting of this novel is Panem which is shown as a dystopia because of its misusing of the modern technologies which are much more developed than our own so that people’s mind will be entrapped within the images produced by these technologies. This research tries to prove that the city of Panem, with its governor President Snow, well represents the society of spectacle. This paper shows the influence of such a society on the poor people of these districts and the way they overcome President Snow.

O espetáculo não é o coveiro da razão: mídia e autonomia em Gilles Lipovetsky

O presente artigo pretende compreender, na obra de Gilles Lipovetsky, a relacao entre midia e autonomia na posmodernidade. O objetivo do texto e motivado pelas reflexoes acerca da sociedade do espetaculo de Guy Debord e suas interpretacoes sobre a impossibilidade de livre pensar/viver do sujeito que, em relacao ao espetaculo/midia, manteria sempre uma relacao de sujeicao, passividade, apagamento de sua singularidade. Atraves do pensamento de Lipovestky, a intencao e pensar no conceito da autonomia como possivel elemento ativo na relacao entre sujeito e midia, ou sujeito e espetaculo. Para estruturar as ideias de Lipovestky em relacao aos conceitos de autonomia, e necessario retomar as reflexoes do autor em tres diferentes conceitos/temas: hipermodernidade, os estudos sobre os processos da moda, e a era da pos-moral. Ja a questao midiatica ou do espetaculo e transversal na obra do autor, refletida em varios de seus textos. Far-se-a um recorte do que se considera mais relevante para fomentar a analise do objetivo proposto.

Sergej Kurechin: The Performance of Laughter for the Post-Totalitarian Society of Spectacle. Russian Conceptualist Art in Rendezvous

It can be argued that all we know about Sergei Kurekhin, a man who played a remarkable role on the exuberant scene of Russian Conceptualism, is concerned, in one way or another, with acting and performance. He was a theatrical and musical performer onstage, whether playing solo or with his Pop-Mekhanika ensemble. He was acting at interviews and TV shows, embarking on prolonged quasi-scientific soliloquies in front of bemused audiences. Even his political pursuits seem to have amounted to a kind of deluding buffoonery. Kurekhinʼs many modes of performing always, or nearly always, involved laughter: the probing kind of laughter revelling in the newly found political freedom of action in the Gorbachovian Society of Spectacle and subsequently, in the Yeltsinian reality of “discarded values”. The paper endeavours to trace the origins and uncover the subtleties of Kurekhinʼs facetious attitude in its apparent ubiquity, with a special focus on his contribution to the peculiar Russian phenomenon of stiob that eventually became his primary strategic tool of manipulation.

Apresentação

In the present edition of Significação – Scientific Journal for Audiovisual Culture and in the others to follow something new is brought: the presence of thematic dossiers which are to be organized by invited scholars. The appointed subject for the very first one of them was Radio and the invited scholar, Eduardo Vicente, professor at the Graduate Course in Audiovisual and at the Postgraduate Program in Audiovisual Media and Processes of the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA-USP). Entitled Radio Beyond Borders the dossier gathers six articles and the intention of reuniting works on the perspectives of usage of such media as much as on the new possibilities of aesthetical experimenting being build up for it, especially considering the new digital technologies and technological convergences. It also intends to present works with original theoretical approach and original reflections able to reset the way we look at what is today already a centennial media. Having broadened the meaning of “beyond borders”, four foreign authors were invited to join the dossier. This is the first time they are being published in this country and so, in all cases, the articles where either written or translated into Portuguese.The dossier begins with “Radio is dead…Long live to the sound”, which is the transcription of a thought provoking lecture given by Armand Balsebre (Autonomous University of Barcelona) – one of the most influential authors in the world on the Radio study field. It addresses the challenges such media is to face so that it can become “a new sound media, in the context of a new soundscape or sound-sphere, for the new listeners”. Andrew Dubber (Birmingham City University) regarding the challenges posed by a Digital Era argues for a theoretical approach in radio studies which can consider a Media Ecology. The author understands the form and discourse of radio as a negotiation of affordances and effectivities more than a number of fixed essential characteristics. Luiz Artur Ferrareto (UFRGS), undertaking a theoretical proposal for categorizing radio content in four different levels of planning (segment, form, programming and content itself) tries to “compare and contrast the practices of Brazilian commercial broadcasting companies to those used on the radio in the United States, a reference market for our national entrepreneurs”. Madalena Oliveira (University of Minho) focuses on the current stage of communication researches in Portugal reflecting on the challenges for studying a culture based on listening in times of looking. Marko Ala-Fossi, (University of Tampere) beginning with the statement that “radio evolution greatly depends not only on the cultural context of a country but also on the whole social, political, economic development of societies” gives us a projection on radio development around the world for the next decades. Closing the dossier, Rafael Duarte Oliveira Venancio (UFU) assuming radio as language by definition and not as a device understands it as a section and an operating model in such language as it intersects the world. Another six articles, not enrolled in the dossier, round the edition off. Fernando de Tacca debates the category of “photocine” recurring to three recent Spanish productions. Gustavo Souza investigates the possibility of identifying a point of view in documentary movies while establishing a debate that joins the materialities of image and sound with the subjectivity resulting from interpretation. Vinicius Bandeira develops on the special duplicity present in the movies between what is and what is not subsumed by the camera. Neide Jallageas proposes the study of visual communication design from the first modelings, attempting especially to the radical propositions from the early XXth century avant-garde movement. Gilson Schwartz debates on the impact from the distribution of videogames as hegemonic cultural practice in the society of spectacle, Christian Pelegrini and Rogério de Almeida analyze the forms of representation of Rose Nadler’s character in the north-American television series Lost. The editors would like to thank the authors for the availability and trust placed in us as well as all as thank the professionals involved in the production of this Journal for the work put into it – especially Andrea Limberto, translator for the articles of Marko Ala Fossi e Andrew Dubber, and Eduardo Vicente, organizer of the dossier and translator for the article of Armand Balsebre. Enjoy the reading!The Editors

Educação e imagens na sociedade do espetáculo: as pedagogias culturais em questão

O artigo analisa as razões pelos quais a cultura de imagens se faz presente nos agentes simbólicos da atual cultura, fomentando experiências e estratégias educativas que se difundem para além das fronteiras da educação formal. A hipótese é a de que toda análise crítica dirigida às pedagogias culturais viabilizam condições para que as estratégias educacionais também utilizem componentes imagéticos presentes nos agentes simbólicos da cultura. Para tanto, será analisada a cultura das imagens na perspectiva da Sociedade do Espetáculo (2000), e as razões pelas quais a análise crítica das pedagogias culturais se tornam essenciais no campo da educação, desafiando as próprias práticas educacionais atuais.

Response by J. Hillis Miller

Response by J. Hillis Miller

Krytyczne archiwa codzienności

Tekst jest próbą zwrócenia uwagi na teoretyczne konteksty projektu artystycznego Tomasza Szerszenia "Ty. Ja. Rzeczy". Podejmuje analizę trzech istotnych wątków: krytyki codzienności Henri Lefebvre'a, krytyki spektaklu Guy Deborda oraz krytyki społeczeństwa konsumpcji Georgesa Pereca. W każdym przypadku autor zwraca uwagę na rolę kategorii archiwum oraz na to, w jaki sposób projekt artystyczny może przetwarzać i rozwijać rozważania teoretyczne. Ważnym celem tekstu jest również zwrócenie uwagi na możliwość wykorzystania badań nad archiwami do krytycznej analizy najnowszej historii, ale także codzienności w jej najbardziej aktualnym wymiarze.