Things Are Cheap, Hurrah! Towards an Alternative Aesthetic of Consumption

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Abstract

In their 1984 Cheap Art Manifesto, the Bread and Puppet Theater rightly argues for the merits of art that is available to all. In this provocation, we will argue that a similar line of thinking applied to consumer objects is the source of the completely overblown consumption patterns currently seen among affluent populations. We take an aesthetic perspective, from which we consider the creation, consumption, and disposal of things under capitalism to be part of the same aesthetic pattern. Our aim is to explore the requirements of an alternative aesthetic of consumption, one that challenges designers to critically reflect on the implications of their designs, which is based on notions of care. We recount our initial thoughts and forays into giving shape to this aesthetic.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDIS '24 Companion
Subtitle of host publicationCompanion Publication of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference
EditorsAnna Vallgårda, Li Jönsson, Jonas Fritsch, Sarah Fdili Alaoui, Christopher A. Le Dantec
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages84-87
Number of pages4
ISBN (Electronic)979-8-4007-0632-5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2024
Event2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, DIS 2024 - Copenhagen, Denmark
Duration: 1 Jul 20245 Jul 2024

Conference

Conference2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, DIS 2024
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityCopenhagen
Period1/07/245/07/24

Keywords

  • Aesthetics
  • care theory
  • consumption
  • post-growth
  • rebound effects

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