Capitalism, consumerism, and futurism /// Primitivism and socialism/communism
Saghar Ghezel
The first collage is intended to represent aspects of capitalism, consumerism, and futurism. This work is intended to draw on the potentially dystopian elements of a capitalist consumer society. The combination of Mark Zuckerberg’s headshot and the famous Orwellian quotation regarding mass government surveillance is in reference to recent controversies concerning Zuckerberg selling datas of Facebook users to advertisement companies. Money hungry billionaires are just one symptom of capitalist consumerism. Additionally, classism is one of most prevalent forms of discrimination in a capitalist society because an individual’s worth is based on their financial status and other possessions. By appropriating the Supreme brand format and the famous quotation “I think therefore I am” by philosopher Rene Descartes, the statement “I shop therefore I am” critiques mindless consumerism and our societal tendencies to judge others based on the things they own. Moreover, the robot head or “The Portrait of F.T Marinetti” is painted by Enrico Prampolini as an homage to the founder of Italian futurism. Lastly, the futuristic city with a flying car is from a scene from the original Blade Runner movie, which is also intended to illuminate the darker potentials of a futuristic world.
In contrast to the previous collage, the second collage is intended to capture elements of concepts such as primitivism and socialism/communism. For example, the yellow painting is by Jean-Michel Basquiat whose works focus on cultural issues and primitivism. Primitivism is the concept of returning back to our human roots and abandoning our current fast-pace technology dependent lifestyles. This notion is depicted in the top right painting of “Jungle with Lion” by Henri Rousseau, a primitivist painter. The movement advocates for peace amongst the people and the planet, which is represented in the poster of the dove removing the letter “a” from the word “war” in order to add it to the word “peace”. Primitivism and communism are similar in their resistance of mass corporations and classist ideologies as well as their appreciation for community. One way our society could ease the tensions between neighbouring countries is by removing the borders that divide us in order to unite us as people. Pablo Neruda is in some ways the figurehead for socialism/communism and the term “viva” is in reference to the statement “viva la revolution”, which indicates a need for a socialist revolution in this capitalist society. These two collages compare and contrast artistic and philosophical movements such as primitivism and futurism as well as social and political systems such as capitalism, communism and socialism.
