BLOG PROMPT FIVE: Subverting Commercial Design
Havidol (2007) by Justine Cooper and WiFi-SM: Feel the Spectacle of Pain (2003) by Christophe Bruno
PLEASE ANSWER BY POSTING COMMENTS.
What are these artist's critiquing, and why do you think they attempt to make their products appear real?
Havidol by Justine Cooper: http://havidol.com
WiFi-SM: Feel the Spectacle of Pain by Christophe Bruno: http://www.unbehagen.com/wifism
Australian artist Justine Cooper investigates "the intersections between culture, science and medicine."
French net artist Christophe Bruno examines "network phenomena and globalization." Wifi-SM was created in 2003, so the design may feel dated. As explained by the artist, "You have the impression that the disasters of the world do not touch you anymore? You feel vaguely sorry for other people’s misfortunes but you don’t feel the inner urge which used to make you help your neighbor? WiFi-SM is the solution!"
Havidol is critiquing modern medicine and its advertising. I think that by making this piece look and feel realistic, it succeeds in making a satirical piece that showcases the radical way that medicine is marketed. I found this piece to be hilarious. It contained everything that a real pharmaceutical advertisement would have- testimonials, side effects, warnings, etc. I really enjoyed the “feeling better is not enough” page, especially the part that says, “If you start to think, ‘I can handle this without the help of medicine,’ you are not alone.” This point is something that has always frustrated me about the pharmaceutical industry, sometimes these add truly do make you feel like you NEED meds to function. Another thing I really enjoyed was the side effects and how they implied the medicine basically turns you into something non-human, even monster-like.
ReplyDeleteWiFi-SM I think is critiquing the egocentrism of humans. I think it is reflecting how humans often lack the ability to empathize with people that are hurting or going through pain. There is a certain guilt that comes with not being able to completely empathize with people in disaster and I think this site is trying to create a satire about how humans could deal with the guilt they may feel. I think that making this piece feel real illustrates the idea that people are willing to buy a product that they, personally, can experience rather than making a donation. This speaks to the egocentric nature of humans and how they seek ways that they themselves can feel things rather than making selfless decisions such as making a donation.
Havidol is definitely pointing out modern culture of materialism, attention seeking, and always wanting more. Everybody is on the lifelong quest to feel happy all the time but it's not going to happen, it's not possible. The whole setup is very realistic and interactive. Having lots of pages with extra information and customer testimonials makes it so much more realistic and really plays up the critique of modern medicine, and especially on how it is advertised in the US. Making the product seem so real forces the viewer to take the critique seriously and really think about what the artist is trying to say.
ReplyDeleteWiFi-SM was critiquing a big concept all at once. It was pointing out the fact that we are so overloaded with bad news that we've become desensitized and uncaring to the trauma and suffering of others. This product is supposed to be the solution to the feeling of guilt we have when hearing about these tragedies and then not doing anything to help stop them. It also is critiquing our response to these topics, with the reviews down below. Rather than using the tap into pain to spur us to action, we find enjoyment in sharing the pain and feel like it puts us on equal ground with those suffering, like it excuses us from having any part in stopping it all from happening in the first place.
Havidol is clearly critiquing the medical industry and the quick fix society that we live in where any problem especially physical that you have can be solved with a pill. This piece reminds me of Unedited Footage of a Bear produced by Adult Swim. Unedited Footage of A Bear is a short infomercial style video that starts off as what looks like a typical allergy commercial and turns into a horror story of a woman turning quite literally into a zombie and losing control of her life. While unedited footage of a bear has a fictional and extreme approach, both of these works have the same principle in mind. Unedited footage of a bear started off like a typical and real feeling infomercial where as Havidol's piece feels like a real medical ad and survey you would take to decide if you need it. I love the real approach they take because it feels easier to grasp the concept and dive into what the artists wants us to think critically about. With Havidol's piece specifically, there are so many details involved to make you truly believe this is a real product.
ReplyDeleteWifi-SM is an interesting approach at forcing others, especially Americans, to become empathetic and concerned about others who are victims of misfortune. While the website does have a realistic approach it feels more satire than Havidol's. Havidol's felt like the artist wanted you to believe it was real and that be the point of the art piece. WIFI-SM has a satirical approach that makes you think "wow, are people really this inconsiderate and dense?" but it is still touching on an important issue. I think both artist's approach at making these sites appear and feel realistic were essential to their real life topics being addressed and make it easier for the viewer to understand.
Havidol is critiquing commercial medicine. Due to the convincing advertisements and stories about these products, big companies can flip low cost research into an overpriced medication for some quick money. I enjoy that he really uses humor to express how dramatic the side effects of these medications are and especially how the product is genuinely useless in practical terms. I believe this is a genuinely good satire of the medical field. I feel that they attempt to make their products appear real because it shows the true irony of it. These ridiculous claims that Justine Cooper make genuinely look and feel like something that would be advertised on a large scale for profit.
ReplyDeleteWiFi-SM, I feel, is critiquing multiple things. I feel that Christophe Bruno is touching on our desensitized view of the world and our increased reliance upon technology to fix our problems. These two fall hand in hand, so I feel that this is a good way to raise awareness of both. With desensitization, I feel that as a humanity, the farther we dive into being more interconnected throughout the world, the worse this issue becomes. The longer we have been exposed to the reality of war, mass shootings, violence in cities, crime and so on, the more common these issues seem to become. If everyday you hear about a murder on the news, one next door wouldn't be a surprise, and since we can't go backwards with our technology and communication, we try to push forward with it. We look for solutions in the very thing that hinders us. I believe that this is another great satire of a reality that seems genuinely feasible. I believe that they tried to make this seem real to quickly show how ridiculous some of our "quick fixes" tend to be. This is a very comical piece raising awareness of issues we still face, in a way we can understand- which is done really well.
These artists are emphasizing the ways in which we as a society interact with medication, showcasing the idea that medication will allow us to "havidol," as some may say. They make their products appear real because they want the viewer to really think about what he or she is viewing. Initially, the audience may think the advertisement is real, and then, only after close observation, will they begin to spot the hints that this is in fact a hoax. Each advertisement is incredibly believable and relevant to our everyday lives, too, so of course we're going to think it's real. These are just like the ads that pop up on our televisions or computers daily.
ReplyDeleteEach ad is so hokey that is truly makes the viewer question what he or she perceives as real, allowing people to question how far they "let themselves go" before the internet or television ads just overcome them altogether.
Havidol is addressing the modern issues we have today, and pairing it with a realistic ad for medicine. Havidol addresses how humans seek happiness through “having it all” and still remain unhappy. The website for this medicine is complex and allows you to see how the medicine effects the brain, the side effects that occur, and even the whole set up with the logos and safety information and personal assessment quiz push this realism even further. I think that the reason why they do this is to relate it to things we see everyday, such as modern medicine. It makes the message much stronger when we can associate it with medicines that we may take and labels that we see for medicine.
ReplyDeleteWiFi-SM is addressing the issue that humans feel guilty because of other people’s suffering and lack to do something about it. This website is a little dated and less realistic than the first, therefore I don’t think it is as strong on persuading the viewers that this item is real. However, it does get the message across by including personal testimonies at the bottom of the page. Including this gives an insight on the human reactions that would be received. There is a dilemma that we think just by being more aware of the pain that were helping in the slightest. This makes the viewer see the satirical side since this is what we tend to do in everyday life with common world problems.
The Havidol website is addressing several things; over dependency on pills which is caused by capitalism, the impatience of our culture, and the idea that you should be able to get whatever you want, whenever you want, and as fast as possible. It's very interesting because it looks like a real website that tells you you can have this product and not have to wait at all for any affects to kick in. Wifi-SM looks like an older website that describes the benefits of being able to embed wifi access into your body. This constant need to be able to access wifi, social media, and be accessed by anyone at anytime is damaging. Much like any body modification, wifi-SM is targeting (and poking fun at) people who will go to any lengths to be able to have Wifi all the time.
ReplyDeleteHavidol is addressing the issue in modern society that people aren't satisfied with what they have and always want more. This site is made really well and allows for the viewer to be able to explore this new ground breaking medicine. It really pushes forward the idea of consumerism even in the self assessment where if you don't qualify for Havidol they just assume that you are not being honest with yourself and state that help, Havidol, is available. The reason that they make this site look like an actual medical website is due to the fact that it seems to look like an actual medicine that could exist in modern society.
ReplyDeleteWifi-SM on the other hand addresses the issue of people's lack of guilt towards awful events. Here the artist created a new product that would force people to experience the pain of others when certain keywords pop up in the news while this site is a little more dated than the Havidol site it still is able to convey a realistic product. The best part of the site in my opinion is the fact that if you purchase Wifi-SM it only comes with 50 charges with it costing 50 cents per charge afterwards. The fact that this site is made to look realistic just drives forward the idea that this device is made by a massive corporation that is guilt tripping people into purchasing their product.
With Havidol, Cooper is critiquing materialism and modern medicine advertisements. Cooper is pointing out that the U.S. and possibly the world has become more materialistic over the years. People seem to want the newest products in technology, clothing, automobiles, etc. Having these things makes us feel happy and when these things go out of date we lose the happiness, so we repeat the cycle. Havidol is a cure-all for this problem as you can "have it all". This is critiquing modern medicine ads. Big pharmaceutical companies have started to market their drugs as a fix it all for specific diseases/disorders. Cooper is also critiquing humans and their obsession to fix their problems quickly and easily with prescription drugs. I think Cooper decided to make this site seem so realistic for satirical purposes as this would probably be a popular drug.
ReplyDeleteWith WiFi-SM, Bruno is critiquing humans and their guilty thoughts. While the site is not as in-depth as Havidol, it still gets its message through well. I believe Bruno is saying that humans have this tendency to feel bad for people/things they hear on the news, see on social media, etc., yet they don't do anything about it. It's as if we think feeling remorse for things in solidarity with others will aid the situation or solve the problem. I also think Bruno decided to make this site seem so realistic for satirical purposes as this would probably be a popular product if it was real.
The Havidol website seems aimed at showing the problems with our materialistic gotta-have-it-all culture, as well as the modern pharmaceutical industry. It seems like in today's world, the medical and drug companies are determined to label and produce medicine for almost anything, so the website is almost believable as a real product. It seems to be critiquing everyone's apparent desire to be perfect and live your life to the fullest, as dictated by the medicine manufacturer.
ReplyDeleteWifi-Sm is critiquing people's lack of humanity, and the guilt some people feel over not feeling. Our guilt is just enough to justify people putting a few coins in a donation can, or doing such small tasks to resolve their guilt. But does it really help the people in need, or is it just a way to appease your guilt, so you can get on with your life with all of our modern conveniences?
It appears as though Havidol is critiquing the modern pharmaceutical industry and its advertising techniques. The name Havidol clearly means “have it all”, which seems to speak to pharmaceutical companies tendency to misrepresent their products in a positive light. This piece succeeds in making fun of pharmaceutical advertisements, containing a long barrage of side effects alongside an attention grabbing name. The overly positive video customer reviews present on the page may represent pharmaceutical companies’ choice to include solely the most favorable accounts of their product on their pages, falsely advertising perfection. Further, the obvious lack of sincerity present in the acting in these reviews probably represents pharmaceutical companies’ preference towards hiring actors for their advertisements, instead of hiring actual users of their drug.
ReplyDeleteThe Wifi-SM page’s satirical critique is evidently on the egocentrism and lack of compassion embodied by many people in modern society. Wifi-SM is a device which claims to cause the user to feel pain whenever a “painful” keyword comes up in a breaking news story, forcing people to care about others in a way that their egocentrism does not allow. The webpage is dated 2003, however this is still a relevant issue in today’s climate, and the critique is still hilarious. It’s message is that people lack the desire to care about others – in their own communities, or on the global scale. It is possible that this piece also speaks to the materialistic tendencies of modern humanity. The Wifi-SM’s marketing appears to hinge on people’s willingness to buy something to make them feel like they are helping others, instead of actually putting forth effort to help. Both artists did an excellent job of illustrating these issues in a way which is easily interpreted by their readers, forming hilarious yet serious commentary on contemporary problems.
Havidol seems to be critiquing the medical industry trying to medicate pretty much everyone. Over medication is a big issue and Havidol is critiquing that by creating a pill that is supposed to fix symptoms that are a normal part of life. It also promises amazing results like many other pills claim as well. There is also a long list of bizarre side effects that you also see pills have all the time.
ReplyDeleteWifi-SM is critiquing how desensitized we have become to negative news and how much news organizations push negative news over positive news. I find it interesting that it only ever makes you feel bad for bad news and never good for good news . Wifi-SM is saying that there is just so much negative news that it is impossible to keep up with and even more impossible to become emotionally invested in the stories.