“…as we can see in the final pages of this volume, in hypermodern society danger does not come from something that characterizes it, what Lipovetsky calls hyperconsumerism. “The more the commercialization of life is imposed, the more we champion human rights. At the same time, values such as volunteering, love, and friendship are perpetuated and even strengthened”. According to Lipovetsky, the danger comes from elsewhere. It comes from what he describes as a disturbing emotional weakening and destabilization of the individual.
Each person’s weakness has its origin in the fact that we are ever more ill-equipped to endure the misfortunes of existence, and this is not because the cult of success or consumerism causes this weakness, but because major social institutions no longer provide a solid structuring framework of days gone by. Hence the wave of psychosomatic disorders, depression and other anxieties, which enable various industries to profit from the production of psychiatric drugs.”
Here I convert the emotional weakness and destabilization that the french philosopher speaks of into tangible metaphors: Styrofoam structures, glass saws, and porcelain hammers. In this short text, he also refers to how consumerism and the cult of success “no longer provide the solid structuring framework of the past”. I think this piece of mine from 1998 is, to a certain extent, related to the concerns of the French philosopher expressed in 2004, which is why I added an aggressive video that is hyperbolic, fast, and based on luxury, pleasure, and power. The piece speaks about the weakness of the structure, of the imminent failure of the very core of the elements and the system, while the images keep showing a world of infinite consumption, hedonism, and personal satisfaction.
