There is nothing more quintessentially American than the supermarket. It is here where Americans can exercise their most pleasurable freedom-- the purchase of products. It was with this in mind that we determined to record the process of shopping at a supermarket. By assembling these sound bytes, we discovered and documented the power of consumerism over American society.
We begin our shopping trip with the one thing everyone needs: food. Starting from infancy, food becomes our most basic desire. However, food has become, like almost all other products we consume, a mass produced commodity that we see only in its final form. In "The Smokehouse," Rohan Anderson builds a smokehouse to prepare his own food. Every cut of meat comes pre-packaged, vacuumed sealed, and declared as "farm fresh." This marketing ploy has hoodwinked our nation into believing the products are naturally produced and organic. This lie is fed to citizens at a very young age, and is constantly applied to them throughout their stages of life.
As our process piece continues, we enter the toy aisle. The marketing strategies here are geared towards young children using playful music and loud noises. From a tender age, kids want the latest, newest, and best toys. The new, shiny toys whisper promises of fun and adventure if they are bought and played with. They convince our children that they must have the newest toy in order to be happy. This pattern of thinking is not only observed in the prepubescent stage of life, but during the teenaged years as well.
We continue past the children’s toys towards the electronics section. We mature out of children’s toys and move on to video games and movies. Movies, music, and video games litter our houses, and take up most of our time. Tirupathi Chandrupatla writes in his poem “Himalayas” of the ranges where the gods reside. No longer do we revere the ranges of the gods, but instead we worship the palaces of technology that store the latest model of Nintendo console or newest iPhone series. People will camp out over night at an Apple store in anticipation for the "next best thing." Little do these consumers know how tangled they have become in a web of lies and marketing ploys.
We finish our process with the sounds of the purchase; the satisfying beep of the checkout scanner blares and we are free to leave the store, shopping cart laden with food, toys, and electronics. Our child is delighted by gifts that have been bought for them, and we ourselves are happy with the purchases made. Consuming is our happiness and happiness is our consumption. The process depicted in this project is meant to act as a mirror for our lives through which we can analyze our guzzling nature. To staunch our consuming desires, we must recognize the deceptive strategies used to trick shoppers into products. Once one understands how one is being deceived, one will learn to ignore the brainwashing messages used today and overcome their gluttony.
During our audio piece, "Eat. Love. Consume.," subtle, quiet words like "fresh," "new," and "next generation" are heard. They are said in a monotonous, computer-like tone reminiscent of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. We included these sound bytes to act as the subliminal messages found in persuasive media today. These sound clips are used in the same way the lyrics of "Fitter Happier" by Radiohead are stylized.
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