I took this picture shortly before the end of the last school term:

 It is the image of a black vinyl sticker abstractly representing a white ipod with the words “Kill your PC” plastered on its screen.  The message is clear and simple; it references the well-known debate of Mac vs. PC, and declares Apple as the one and only.  Computer nerds world-wide know how strongly people feel about one platform versus the other; this debate is not a new theme, and not what caught my eye in this instance.  Instead, what struck me in particular about this sticker was its placement at a student bike rack by someone who most likely has nothing to do with Apple or its corporate competitors.

Why would someone go and and place a sticker somewhere like that?  This sticker, this campaign, means something to them beyond advertisement.  This corporate marketing debate has so affected their way of thinking that it has become as important as a way of life to them, a representation of who they are and what they believe.  Being an Apple, and not a PC user, is a part of how they define themselves, something they feel the need to proclaim to others in an attempt to create connections.

 This is the power of marketing in the 21st century.

People buy into brands not just because their clothing fits or is a good color, but also for the ideals they have come to understand it represents via its marketing campaigns.  Although this type of marketing can be overwhelming when it goes as far as determining people’s cultural values (see the sticker above), it still, at a lower level of cultural intrusion, is an important way for a company to market itself successfully.

By proclaiming your thoughts and ideals of how your product can enhance a particular way of life, you can help potential customers relate to your company via their own opinions.  Perhaps, then, they will choose to purchase your products or services over the multitudes of others offering the same.  The most successful companies know and practice this technique, as well as some of the most successful architects.  One example that particularly comes to mind is REM Koolhaas, equally well-known for both his architecture and his publications.  His designs are perhaps some of the most “off the wall” architecture being created currently, for example going so far as to totally recreate the library classification system for book storage in the Seattle Public Library(completed 2003).  Even though reviews on some of his projects have been mixed, REM Koolhaas is still winning competitions and practicing.  Every client that hires him chooses his office based upon his ability to market himself as a thinker.  And no matter what the reviews, he has followed his thought processes through to the end, with the help of like-minded individuals he has attracted to his practice via his proclamations of his ideals. He, perhaps better than many of his contemporaries, is not peddling style or technique, but ideals, and reaping the benefits of it.  As his office, and the sticker above proves, it makes for successful marketing.

Recently, Will Bruder, a successful practicing architect out of Phoenix, did a short question and answer session at my school.  Although most of his work and words were inspiring, one phrase he spouted in particular got my attention.  He stated that “in the digital age, perception is reality and reality no longer counts.”  He meant it in regards to something he was saying about density, but I find it has much more lasting power in its abstract sense.

Very little, as far as the imagery we subject ourselves to everyday, is real.  Our superstars are inconceivably thin and unnaturally young,  our SUVs are hardly ever taken offroad, distances that used to take days now take minutes, our foods are full of chemically-derived color and taste, even our countertops are faux.  But we perceive them to be real, we desire them to be.  In the digital age, we have the power through technology to create our own reality, and we do. 

With our modern ability to manipulate all aspects of reality, it begs the question of where we find our grounding.  Is it truly nowhere? I don’t believe so.  If we lose track of all sense of reality and place, we end up with situations like the current oil problem- where supplies are starting to get lower than the demands created by our perceived needs.  So, does a revertment from a faux world involve a campaign to get back to basic reality in all aspects of our live?  Or is it only in some aspects of our lives, like our physical environments?

I think the field of architecture can help offer a place for grounding.

Architecture is perhaps the one area of study that truly walks the tightrope separating reality from dream.  Architects create real places, places that no matter how good the intentions are, manipulate a person’s perception of their physical environment.  They can force views, hide others, expose the mechanics of the building, or hide it.  They can make distances seem small, small objects feel large and significant, solids seem light.  And unlike with other forms of art, architecture is place- it is perceived reality. Still, just as much as architects can manipulate a physical environment, they can expose it.  They can bring in natural breezes, allow sunlight to light a room (or not), focus views that remind a person of the place, and time, they are truly in.

I do not think that our digital age has gone completely wrong in allowing us to create our own realities, just that we have gone a bit overzealous in our choices of what all needs to be manipulated.  Our physical environments, for the most part, should be a place of reality.  And when they are not, they should read as a dream in the same sense artwork does- as a finely articulated dream that mimics our desired reality, but like any dream, is over once you look away.

I recently finished a book entitled “Culture Jam: How to Reverse America’s Suicidal Consumer Binge- And Why We Must.”  Written by Kalle Lasn, the editor of Adbusters magazine and founder of such movements as Buy Nothing Day, it reads somewhat like a manifesto for people who are fed up with mass media alienation and stupidity.  It encourages people to take back their minds and lives, to think past the advertising they see and to remove the pressures of corporations attempting to brand their hopes and dreams into generics that encourage sales.  While it has its moments of being a bit over the top, overall I found it to be quite good, and well-conceived. 

While the subject ties quite nicely into my thesis work, it was not the reason I bought this particular book when there are many, many titles written upon this very subject.  I chose this one because of its enticing title gimmick that this book was not only an expose of the oft-discussed subject of how our modern life is robbing us, but also would focus upon suggesting ways to fix it.  I have read many, many books pertaining to the problems the brainwashing of modern advertisment and its co-conspirator suburban alienation, but until this book, I have never found one that enthusiastically and sincerely put forth theories on achievable solutions.  Granted, I do not agree with all of Lasn’s proposed methods, but I was very glad to see someone putting forth some sort of solution

 It seems that often people are quick to point out problems, but are then much more slow to come up with solutions, and even less likely to enact them.  I understand change is difficult, I find it so myself, but the potential benefits in the face of what are obviously deteriorating status-quo situations, should push more people into attempting something new.  Or rather sometimes, revert them to a previous line of thought. 

As a result, I enjoy checking up on the workings of Adbusters from time to time.  Their consistent attempt to address and change people’s perceptions is quite exciting.   I also find their ways of creating public awareness of their causes to be informative and inspiring in my own work, particularly their main reliance upon written venues-books, magazines, and the most readily available and far-reaching place for free expression, the internet.  Currently, their online membership tops 100,000, and each year I hear more rumblings about “Buy Nothing Day.”  In other words, their campaign is gaining public recognition.  Organizations such as the Adbusters are breaking ground, revitalizing the potential for free expression and discussion upon many subjects, and gaining true attention.  It’s truly becoming a fine time to be an educational activist.