Consumer culture - Articles from journal databases

1. Find these recent articles on Consumer Culture on our
journal databases
Some more search terms related to consumer culture: business in art;
capitalism in art; work environment in art; popular culture; shopping ;
fetishism
Durbin, K. (2020) ‘Bottom of the Supply Chain’, Art in America,
108(3), pp. 48–53
This article focuses on the artists' engagement with American technology company Amazon. Topics
covered include the art about the company which highlights human frailty, the artistic depiction of the
poor labor conditions for warehouse workers and delivery drivers at Amazon, and how the artworks
show that capitalism not only objectifies people, but also humiliates objects.

2. Smith, W. S. (2019) ‘The Weak and the Dead’, Art in
America, 107(8), pp. 56–65.
The article profiles the work of the artist Brian Donnelly, who works under the name KAWS. Noted are
his paintings of cartoon characters, which feature bulbous skull heads and Xed-out eyes. Other topics
discussed include his "COMPANION" sculptures featuring Mickey Mouse, his work making figurines
and trophies for the MTV Video Music Awards, and his exhibition history.
Thompson, C. (2018) ‘Consumer Symbols/A
Glass Order’, BlackFlash Magazine, 35(3), pp. 36–43.
In The 500 Year Itch (1992), Shelley Niro co-opts the highly circulated, and often venerated, icons of
mainstream culture in a subversion of the commodifying gaze; Lori Blondeau’s COSMOSQUAW
(1998) persona, carefully situated at the intersection of feminine performance, Indigenous vernacular
and colonial realities, populates magazine covers and dreamy domestic settings; in selections from
the photographic series Modern Nomads (2002), Marja Helander captures the interface between
multiple identities against the backdrop of neighbourhood grocery stores frozen landscapes; and
Thirza Cuthand weaves complex, fluctuating personal narratives into the archetype of the television
infomercial in 2 Spirit Introductory Special $19.99 (2015). To varying degrees, these examples
operate in proximity to the symbols of consumer culture. Magazine covers, celebrity status,
supermarket shelves, television infomercials: the signals that guide and often anticipate decision-
making in the capitalist consumer spectacle.

3. SAITO, Y. (2018) ‘Consumer Aesthetics
and Environmental Ethics: Problems and Possibilities’, Journal of Aesthetics &
Art Criticism, 76(4), pp. 429–439.
It is generally agreed that the prime mover of contemporary consumerism is aesthetics. However,
today's consumer aesthetics often leads to decisions and actions that have negative environmental
consequences. By taking apparel industry, represented by fast fashion, as a quintessential example
of this problem, I argue that aesthetics can no longer claim immunity from environmental
considerations—there needs to be a paradigm shift for consumer aesthetics. A proposed new
environmentally minded consumer aesthetics promotes a paradoxical role for material ephemerality in
enhancing an object's longevity, and it places importance on the personal connection with an object's
story, as well as our engagement with the material world more generally.
Stiegler, B. (2016) ‘Automatic
society, Londres février 2015’, Journal of Visual Art Practice, 15(2/3), pp. 192–203.
The control societies analysed by Deleuze are becoming societies of hyper-control, where
supercomputing is applied to massive data-sets, with the ultimate goal of controlling behaviour. This
control, however, is destroying all forms of knowledge, whether skills, capacities or theories, and
undermining all social systems, including the economic foundations of consumerism itself. Although
this situation can seem unstoppable, transformations of the technical system always have harmful
effects on existing social systems, and thus require the invention of new knowledge and practices. Art
has a crucial if not sufficient role to play in creating a new therapeutics for the twenty-first century.
den Besten, L. (2019) ‘at some point you’ve got to
pull your head out and make some concrete decisions’, Metalsmith, 39(4), pp.
42–51
The article discusses the works of New Zealand-based jeweler Lisa Walker. Topics discussed
include that her jewelry represents enthusiasm and disgust, and sometimes culture, society; her
exhibition at the new art gallery at the National Museum in Wellington in March 2018; and notes that
she used second-hand items of consumer culture.

4. Hochtritt, L. (2019) ‘Art Educators’ Thrift Shopping Practices
as Social Action’, Studies in Art Education, 60(4), pp. 303–316.
How do artists and art educators who are engaged in regular thrifting view their
consumptive practices? This article draws on a small pilot case study and interview data from five
artist–educators living in the southwestern United States and examine the motivations and habits of
their thrift shopping practices. Findings shared by participants elucidate their conscious decisions to
prioritize the purchase of second-hand goods and personal stories linked to the objects. Five themes
about thrift shopping habits emerged from the data: (1) linked to personal identity; (2) utilitarian; (3)
activism; (4) objects hold meaning; and (5) thrifting promotes feelings and actions related to relaxation
and pleasure. Results conclude that artists and art educators view thrift shopping and consumer
culture as a personal, interventionist practice that questions social norms. They also
recast thrift shopping as a place of collaborative social practice in which participants have the power
to individualize consumption.