Tagged with Consumerism

Within the temples, tourists wander about chattering and taking photos. Few indeed are the visitors who make bows at the threshold or offerings at the altar. Without knowing basic Buddhist traditions, tourists behave like the cattle of Indian streets. This trend could easily be summed up in a single word: commodification. (more)

Mike Judge's film Idiocracy is a hilarious peek at what humans might be like 500 years from now. It's a description that's hauntingly fitting today. (more)

In Green Porno, a short film series from the Sundance Channel, actress Isabella Rossellini explores the bizarre rituals of copulating bugs. (more)

[RS Gallery] • For 50 years, Terrence Conran has been at the forefront of British design. In 1964 he opened the first Habitat shop in London's Chelsea. His influence extends into architecture and interior design. In 2005 he was named the most influential restaurateur in the UK. "I try to design products that make people's lives easier." (more)

Old categories for media are falling to the wayside as audience taste broadens and the borders between genres blur. We also lose our group identities in the process. Is that a triumph or tragedy? (more)

This year, Radiohead showed us that digital sales empower artists. They also forced the question: Why are we so concerned with the fiscal status of superstars? (more)

To watch the AMPTP (movie and TV producers) disinformation campaign against the Writers Guild of America (screenwriters) is to watch a replay of the record industry's profit-motivated suicide of the 1990's. (more)

[Sex and Spirit] • In this podcast, Jamye and I discuss Morgan Spurlock’s newest film, What Would Jesus Buy?. Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping embark on a difficult and hilarious spiritual crusade across America to save Christmas from consumerism. “If we could change Christmas, we could change the whole year,” says the good reverend. Could one movie do all this? PLAY PODCAST (more)

Is music "the religion of humanity," or is it just another commodity? And what happens when the situation is so indistinguishable from its shadow that separating the sincerity from the sale becomes impossible? (more)

Karl Lagerfeld and Zaha Hadid are building The Mobile Art container, a UFO-shaped exhibition pod that will roam the world in 2008. (more)