Pre-Post for 10/28

This week as I came across the Horkheimer and Adorno reading, “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception” I was curious. However, as I came to the later part of the article I had this realization connecting Walter Benjamin and Horkheimer and Adorno. The realization point that truly connected me is what you will find below: “ That character is not new: it is the fact that art now dutifully admits to being a commodity, abjures autonomy and proudly takes its place among consumer goods, that has the charm of novelty. Art was only ever able to exist as a separate sphere in its bourgeois form.” (M p.65) This quote directly resonates in my mind as if it could be coming out of Benjamin’s work titled, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” This article also seemed to correlate well with Althusser and Hebdige. To me when I am able to relate the material of theorists to others not only does it exemplify my understanding, but it also presents itself in a different way. It presents itself in a way that makes me want to further understand why the issue is so dwelled on by our theorists. The quote reminds me of how important it is to separate ourselves from society and represent ourselves as the individuals should all be. As Lyotard mentions that rebelling against these norms of society that cause us to lose our individuality will help form a stronger more individualistic society. By having something as significant as art once was becomes a commodity it really proves the power of the consumer culture within our society. This deeply saddens me to think that people can be so obsessed with “things” which in my opinion mean nothing to bettering a person’s future or their life at all.