Blog 2
If the lectures have put one thing into focus for me, it is the relationship between power, influence and money, and the role that advertising plays in widespread mass-consumptive behaviour. Reflecting on the themes of the essays up against the current climate crisis, I was forced to see the nature of mass media marketing, and the destructiveness of this influence on our own habits as consumers. As a fashion media and communications student, truly considering the part that our industry plays into such a vicious cycle was jarring – we are all learning to enter this world of influence and influencers, advertising and marketing and money. Now more than ever the ethics of mass advertising in a time where consumption and waste are at their peak stands to be questioned. Considering the place of creativity as a glorified carrier for corporate messages, the art of visuals in marketing and the artists behind them as a figurehead to purely boost profit, boost manufacturing and hook the masses with messages whether subliminal, artistic or obvious, that further encourage mass consumption and increase an unsustainable culture of exploitation and waste. One thing stands obvious throughout; we will either change our ways drastically or destroy ourselves. What role are we going to play in this?
Following the lectures and realizing how little I truly knew about media and communication in fashion I felt obligated to investigate mass media marketing and advertising, to try and educate myself further into the world that surrounds us, and more often than we realize shapes us. The lectures provided a rounded started point for developing our own independent understanding of important topics. I researched the origins of modern marketing from early concepts of public relations, to the use of advanced psychoanalysis in developing an understanding of the subconscious drives, techniques still very much employed. It was interesting to dissect the messages and platforms that surround us, and to analyze the intentions of companies and how this informs fashion through the ways in which we interact with it everyday. Moving forwards I feel I understand better the importance of understanding how and why things are the way that they are and will try to independently research and continue to gain knowledge on the themes that we were lectured on.
As individuals and as an industry we must face this reality and take responsibility for the consequences of it. We must look into the face of convenience; the convenience of fast fashion, fast advertising, cheap, mass produced clothes delivered next day, a convenience we have come to expect, and see the true cost of our choices. Denial can only lead us backwards.
As both consumers and future parts of an industry; understanding our situation is the first step forwards. With lectures like these forcing us all to confront and delve deeper into what we take for standard, and with the increasing accessibility of information, ignorance cannot remain a valid excuse.