Levester's Automatist Exercise

Levester Williams
Reed Esslinger-Payet
ADP III

Automatist Exercise

All boxes contain constituents specifically alluding to deep connection to consumerism, whether it is conspicuous or not by the drawings and writings. The rectilinear and curvilinear lines found in the upper left box show unconscious representations of what our minds configure everyday as we process our daily lives. As one notices, there are more rectilinear lines than curvilinear; thus, it seems the processing of the world is mostly derived from “living in a natural world to living in a manufactured world” (Lasn 4). These shapes in these boxes seem to convey the bare elements of consumerism with its labeling—as seen in the squares—and the array of lines—mostly depicting lives of a barcodes. Due to its ambiguous forms, the curvilinear shapes seem to be indistinguishable figures of the natural world being slowly integrated into the world of technological. The natural world no longer exists by itself but with the invasive technological environment caused by consumerism.
Next, the box in the upper right corner contains words that simulate a time and space of a person and its environment. The words have hardly any grammatical structure: it conveys fragments of memory being submerged into the technological components of the person’s life. With words such as plastic, train, and car, the viewer quickly connects with the material aspect of our environment. Plastic reminds the viewer of the plastic bottles consumed and tossed aside. Train and car enable the viewer to envision a time of mobility and the recollection of the various prices of the tickets and gas. Moreover, these inventions pronounce the ability to move across the material environment freely. It and me suggest the relationship the person has with its material environment. Since the word it comes first, it suggests that the person must situate products at high priority to have a sense of time and place in the space.
Then, the box in the lower right corner contains shapes of various medicines. Each shape represents a name-brand medicine. Even if the shapes themselves do not do justice to the actual forms of these products, the inclusions of the name do. The identities of the products lie within the brand. The shapes become the background for the brand name. The most interesting element in this box is the phrase “and so on.” Medicine is consumed so much in our daily lives that the list runs continuously. The name brands only agglomerate into a mass of unconscious addiction. If one feels sick, find a name brand of a medicine that will provide a relief to the situation.
In the lower left square, names of various objects are found. As seen in the first square mentioned, there is a mixture of elements that pertain to consumerism while one element at least suggests the natural world. Horseshoe, Zelda, and bull’s eye all pertain to entertainment while aurora borealis exemplifies a natural phenomenon that stimulates our emotions. Yet, we are now stimulated by entertainment from the media, depriving us from our enjoyment of nature.
When considering the squares as whole, aspects of consumerism are embedded in each one. Through the narrative of these squares, the viewers sense strange connection to these abstract drawings. He senses that he is an emulator that “[looks[ for products that make [him] feel like somebody else—someone more important” (Lasn 102). For example, each square pertains particularly to the blind devotion of a consumer. The plethora of medicines he consume continuously—knowing the brand name but not the ingredients within them—the stimulation of media entertainment depriving him from his natural sense, and his awareness of time and space being congruent with the presence of technological world. The concrete evidence of consumerism is particularly found in the lower right square.
The immanent consumption of products such as medicines are due to the “first commandment of a cult: Thou shalt not think” (Lasn 54). We indulge ourselves into purchasing brand name items without questioning it. The Savage in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World has a choice to submit himself into the self-indulging elements of his utopian society, or to question and revolt it. He asked this question to the “individuals [of his society] devoted to the pursuit of happiness” (Huxley ix): “But do you like being slaves…do you like being babies” (Huxley 144)? The Dadaism supports such questioning the order of how societies work. They reject reason and logic and express irrationality and chaos to enable people to question their society, particularly consumerism in this case (“Dada”. This question needs to an urge of wanting the truth.

Works Cited
"Dada." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 09 Nov. 2009. .
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Row, 1969. Print.
Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999. Print.