Spectacle

As Walter Benjamin states, the mode of reproduction has shifted from tactical (hand, lithography) to the optical (eye, cinema), experiencing a world through images and visual representations that leads us to a culture of enjoyment without criticism. Guy Debord points out that we live in a spectacle where false imagery rules our perception of the world and all of reality and every relationship are “mediated by images.” Debord defines spectacle as an inescapable system imposed by economy and articulates the way in which society/culture is controlled by the manipulation of representations of the global economy system. Therefore, our advanced “cool-looking” design and its creative capability is greatly governed by the market principle, rather than having its own agenda. In his sense, media design functions as a supporting tool in a spectacle, producing artificial reality, pseudo-needs and creating a fantasy world of imagined self-realization and happiness by promoting capitalist commodities.