Joe Jagos

Cuaderno 78

>FULL PDF - China:Hyper-Consumerism, Abstract Identity<

18 Pages

>FULL PDF - Bootleg Clothing Archive Photo Series of CHCAI by Joseph Jagos<

22 Pages

Photography and Research Contributor:

Joseph Jagos

Essay and Writing:

Marie Genevieve Cyr

ABOUT

China:Hyper-Consumerism, Abstract Identity is an 18 page essay which was submitted to, excepted, and published by Argentinian researchers print journal Cuaderno 78. The essay investigates formation of Hyper-Consumerism & Abstract Identity that has been produced through the replication of false luxury environments and products.

This essay is a compilation of physical research in China around 10 cities + personal writings. Reference to previous material of other researchers, writers, and theorists are also included. Our combined research started at a residency with Red Gate Gallery in Beijing 2016 and is ongoing. We also conduct viscom & design workshops throughout China in various cities. This hands on approach has contributed to absorbing the values of eastern approaches to visual communication, art, and design. This essay isn't the end of researching hyper-consumerism and abstract identities, but a core driving force in producing new physical visual work.

ABSTRACT

Is the 21st century the Chinese century? Westernization has changed nearly all facets of life in China, except for politics (Wu, 2009). This has created mass-confusion, enthusiasm, rebellion, romanticism, and idealism. The 1990s manufacturing industries continued to dominate the acceleration of consumerism in the 21st century and created, more than ever, a bizarrely giant, abstract world of identity that is self-created and sustained. This paper examines the politics of abstract desire, hyper-consumerism, and the notion of fantasy in the Chinese fashion industry. Today, hundreds of giant "hyper-malls" found all over China are connected to the distribution of fake "stuff." These commercial emblems have become an integral part of China's visual and social landscape. The marketplace of fake goods using Western brand images (e.g. logos) has grown for centuries to become an abstract superstructure of falsely branded lifestyles and design integrity. The global rise of hyper-consumerism gave China the ultimate opportunity to create a new identity for itself while importing the dream of luxury: The Buying Power. This paper focuses on abstracting the notion of hyper-consumerism and interrogating the relationship between visual advertisement, its materiality, and its representation in the global marketplace. How does advertising contribute to the production of consumer goods? Can we create a cyclical vision for new materials? How is the value of luxury created, displaced, transformed, and consumed through space and time?