‘RachelOrmont’ Is Peter Vack’s Candy-Colored Feel Bad Shock Cinema
Peter Vack’s candy-colored RachelOrmont dares the squeamish to reckon with the schizoid darkness happening on cellphones all around them.
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‘They Live’ in Your Mind in the Digital Age
If “they live” because we sleep, it’s time to awaken to the reality that John Carpenter’s 1988 sci-fi satire is more relevant now than it ever was in the 20th century
Language Is a Virus, and People Could Die
The COVID pandemic seemed to accelerate the spread of new viral media, but viruses mutate, pop culture replicates, and everything’s a cover song.
The Art of Psychological Warfare
From marketing manipulation to all-out psychological warfare, Stories Are Weapons clarifies how our world – and worldview – is seldom our own.
Is the ‘Barbie’ Movie Performative Subversion or Meaningful Rebellion?
Is the Barbie movie, like the Barbie dolls, a superficial attempt to co-opt feminist discourse? Or does it offer something substantial?
The Art of Advertising (excerpt)
The Art of Advertising invites us to consider both the intended and unintended messages of the advertisements of the past.
When British Advertising Became Ubiquitous and Beautiful
Lambert tracks British social history through posters, cards, and other ephemera in the vividly illustrated The Art of Advertising.
‘Represented’: Black Buying Power and the American Dream
The unheralded and underappreciated PR exec. Moss Kendrix is the de facto hero in Brenna Wynn Greer's enlightening history of Black marketers and the evolving depiction of Black people in mass media.
Weaponizing Culture
Curator and art activist Nato Thompson argues that culture is not just contested terrain, it is a tool used for asserting and maintaining power.
Everybody Wears Streetwear, So Everybody Should Read About It in ‘This Is Not Fashion’
Beyond utility and good looks, perhaps the most essential feature of streetwear is that it always says something. King ADZ and Wilma Stone excel in this area of ideology.