Lily's Automatist Exercise

From the exercise “Get out of your media-polluted brain”, each square on my sheet seems very different and random at first. In the top left square, there is an arrow symbol, starting very broad at the bottom, and rising to the top of the square. Rays seem to be emulating from it, which are enclosed in a circle that is cut off by the top of the square.

The second square reads “parents house, trampoline”.

“Horseshoe”, “Chinese”, “lemmings”, “topography”, and “gingerbread man” are written in the third square.

The fourth square contains representations of pills and a marijuana leaf spread throughout the composition.

The second square is how someone felt pain. The fourth square is how someone heals (or reacts to) his pain. The first and third squares are someone’s automatic reactions to something seen or heard. Each square has to do with what we consume; from our sight, from listening, from society.

The overall effect from this exercise seems to be that society throws so much at us. We have so much random unnecessary stuff that we consume in our head and our bodies. The one that sticks out the most to be is square number four. We try and try to make everything feel better by consuming more and more. Which is just falling deeper into the pit of consumerism, because they want you to take more pills and buy their medications.

I feel as though each of these squares is influenced by the broad reaches of consumerism. We are overwhelmed with symbols in our cities and towns. Just walk down State street and try to notice all of the visual symbols around you: road signs, logos, graffiti, etc. I highly doubt that if someone doing this exercise in the pre-consumerism era would’ve drawn the symbol of an arrow in one of these boxes.

The second square mentions a trampoline. Those were the “cool” thing to have as a kid growing up in our culture… or so says society. But apparently for this person, it represents a painful experience. We consume things that are dangerous, as long as it follows the rules of fitting in.

The main thing that represents our consumerist society in square three is “lemmings”. That was a popular video game in the 1990s. Most people know about it, and have played it (in our American society). It shows, again, the conformity towards consumerism and the idea that “if it is popular, I have to have it”.

Square four makes a concrete reference to consumption. These are portrayals of what he literally consumes in order to feel better, whether it is for a headache, stress, relaxation, or recreation. This represents the idea ingrained in us that buying more stuff will make us feel better, which is absolutely false. It will only make us want more.

Throughout this exercise, the Lasn’s ideas of consumerism are represented. It reflects his notion of the negative effects the media and society have on us and our individuality. Although each of our responses to the prompts of the exercise was different, I’m sure many were similar. Lasn says “Perhaps there’s no such thing as an authentic self” (Lasn 45). This scary idea suggests that the consumerist society brainwashes us into agreeing with their ideas. It is important to look at each aspect, positive or negative of these consumerism issues, we have to be careful what we consume, and if it is detrimental to our self to avoid it.

Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: How to Reverse America's Suicidal

Consumer Binge--and Why We Must. New York, NY:HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1999. Print.