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Experiences All The Way Down

February 24, 2020 by Museum Fatigue

Just before nine o’clock last evening, I received an email notification that I book I ordered from Amazon had been delivered to a shipment locker not so far from my home. In what I hope was a self-referential joke on the nature of capital, its name was “Vlad” no less! Since I had just finished my most recent book and was looking forward to adding the new arrival to the pile next to my favorite chair, I decided to head […]

Categories: Consumption, Uncategorized • Tags: Amazon, experiences

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Utopian Gesture #1: Recycling Bins

November 7, 2018 by Museum Fatigue

As a first example of a utopian gesture, I present the most beautiful and ideal collection of recycling bins I have ever seen. In fact, it seems unfair to refer to the collection of such a wide variety of objects at one location in such nicely designed containers as simply recycling. It is more like a recycling station or miniature recycling center—it collects a wide variety of things in six different major categories. Pull-top cans: soft drinks, Sprite cans, beer cans, Coke […]

Categories: Consumption, Environment, Utopian Gestures • Tags: garbage, Jussi Parikka, recycling

2

The Convenience Store at the End of the World

October 24, 2018 by Museum Fatigue

If it is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, then the post-apocalyptic grocery store is there to help imagine both. Catastrophically emptied of employees with shelves left stocked waiting to be raided by roving bands of survivors—it is common to the mise en scène of the end-of-the-world film genre as a sign of the collapse of the economic relations that define our current globalized-capitalist-market-economic system. Products in the store-at-the-end-of-the-world are left unguarded and free […]

Categories: Consumption, End of Times, Retail • Tags: consumption, post-apocalyptic, smart store, surveillance, the eerie

3

Great Food. Offensive Stickers.

August 15, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

Just hours from completing this year’s summer road trip we enjoyed a great dinner in a midwestern diner at the Cedar Country Cooperative’s Exit 45 Restaurant. I enjoyed an open-faced hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy. I only wish I had space for a slice of their awesome pies! Check out links from their Facebook page for photos. The welcoming homestyle cooking, however, couldn’t have clashed more with the offensive messages of some of the stickers for sale […]

Categories: Consumption, Nationalism, Objects of Power • Tags: bumper stickers, Cedar Country Cooperative, Cenex, English Only, God, language, stickers, Wisconsin, xenophobia

2

When Good Means Failing: Resisting Corporate Satisfaction Surveys

August 10, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

This morning before checking out of our hotel, I noticed a letter on the desk in the room. The letter, written by the local hotel’s General Manager, mentioned that we might be receiving a satisfaction survey from corporate Best Western by email within a few weeks. The letter encouraged us to be sure and be “extremely satisfied” with our stay. In fact, if we weren’t extremely satisfied, the letter entreated us to contact the general manager directly by email or […]

Categories: Consumption, Corporate Culture, Discipline, Surveillance • Tags: Best Western, customer satisfaction, hotels, service industry, surveys

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Need Help Writing College Essays? 论文写作专家

August 8, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

No, I’m not running an essay writing service. I am, however, happy to see that I have career choices. Yesterday while enjoying a walk through the University of Toronto campus I noticed hundreds of fliers taped up on information boards and utility poles advertising the professional essay writing services. These were special, however, because they were entirely in Chinese (in both simplified and complex character versions) clearly targeting a specific client base. Most interesting to me was that even the […]

Categories: Consumption, Education, Fakes and Forgeries, Higher Education • Tags: cheating, college, 论文写作专家,essay writing

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Mystery Object #20: The Goat Almighty

August 2, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

  The first night of this summer’s road trip we stopped in Chicago and enjoyed a meal at The Little Goat. As I often do, I asked the waiter to suggest something on the menu that is unique to the restaurant that I would regret not trying. Our server suggested the “Goat Almighty” a huge stack with a goat burger, braised beef, bbq pork, pickled jalapeños, salsa verde, onion rings and cheddar cheese. It was really a crazy thing to […]

Categories: Consumption, Food, Mystery Objects • Tags: burger, excess, Goat Almighty, The Little Goat

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“Care the Brand, Share the Dream”: The New Words of China’s “Foreign” Brands

June 22, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

In China one often hears the lament that China has no great globally recognized brands. While China may be the world’s workshop, the absence of name brand products desired in international markets is seen as an indication of not having quite reached the next rung of the market capitalist developmental ladder. Chinese may make products, but don’t create great brands. This, of course, stands in stark opposition to the fervor with which China’s new wealthy classes snap up objects of […]

Categories: Consumption, Cosmopolitanism, Language • Tags: brands, China, Chinese brand names, fashion, name brand products

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Beijing Menu Designates Specific Foods to “Say No!” to Smog

June 11, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

At one restaurant in Beijing, market capitalism has found an answer to the city’s now legendary air pollution—ordering the right foods off the menu. While collectively dealing with the causes of pollution is not a political option available to Beijing residents, according to the restaurant menu the effects of the pollution can be addressed through correct individual consumption. On the menus at Jindingxuan Restaurant (金鼎轩地坛店) specific foods are designated as “resisting haze and clearing out toxins” (抗霾排毒)—specifically good for “saying no” to smog. The […]

Categories: China, Consumption, Food • Tags: air pollution, Anti-Haze, Beijing, 金鼎轩地坛店, market capitalism, menu, pollution, smog, 抗霾排毒

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Native Wear (for White Kids)

March 11, 2014 by Museum Fatigue

While shopping last week I snapped an image of some clothing that feature Native American imagery. Nearby were other items of clothing with some kind of faux native cloth or rug design. I’m surprised that such imagery still sells—retains some kind of exotic value—with the white middle class customers that I am sure are its target market. I guess the upscale “tribal fashion” trend of the past few years has finally arrived a the local mall.   *UPDATE: Heidi Klum’s Redface […]

Categories: Consumption, Value • Tags: clothing, Native American, red face, tribal fashion

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