WR 7,8

Here there is a picture of my four-square prompt; it represents the cognitive functions of every person that wrote on this sheet of paper. Here's how it goes. Everything becomes sedated with one another. That's all I know. And it's by far the most intrenching post I have been able to get access towards. The first square undoubtedly unfolds to us some kind of incongruence between states of mind of this person. He/she thinks of a triangle when he/she hears the word "tick". As well, the issue of filtering becomes apparent because he/she doesn't seem to understand what the image constitutes of. Secondly, as we proceed to the other, more elegant picture of this drawer, it seems that this drawer doesn't seem to acknowledge shape when it comes to drawing well. This means that he/she probably hates to use detail when regarding shape; simply he/she doesn't regard the use of these shapes as important. Importance comes at a cost. Regarding whoever did the second bunch of words, it seems perfection is kept wisely at bay. This person tries to establish a sense a belonging with the viewer - seeks to connect his/her experience with the viewer. He or she tries to establish a sense of security. Under scrutiny, this person relevantly chooses to not mention horrific details of the gore; rather, he or she decides to establish a sense of belonging and a sense of familiarity by doting the word "Meijer" on the image.

For the third image, the shapes are relevant to the issue, yet vague in that they don't really capture the essence of familiarity. For example, the shapes are very detailedly drawn, which is a good sign that whoever made this intended to get a good representation of the ideological demonstration circulating within his or her mind. Reed made a mention to "Medicine". This represents his or her view of such thing; therefore, it is hard to tell whether he or she intended for the viewer to feel anything regarding this issue. It also raises the question: how does his or her mind evaluate subjects to get a clear composure on the meaning of intelligence?

The meaning of intelligence raises a powerful awareness of things like racism, discrimination within the mind. This discrimination within itself is a large topic to seek. To communicate with somebody about this issue is a highly stifled topic in today's society. Today's society relies on racism or other things like the discrimination of minds and the highly intelligent. Neuroscientists tailor their research statements to only the privileged. Therefore, it is the highly privileged in society that demonstrate a crave for such matters. This bases it's publication on societal themes regarding brilliance and the sought-after intellectual. The elusive intellectual. The intellectual whose mind is shunned from the rest of the world because of hatred towards this intellectual stereotype. It raises awareness about how this society seeks to evolve - when it does so, and how everyone around this political figure seeks to mesmerize things like ambiguity.

Shortly put, this stereotype and succinct fear of intellectuals seeks to diminish intellectuals' identities itself. However morbid, it is consequential.

The fourth and last cuticle contains words written by me. Sometimes I don't understand or comprehend how these things come into being. These images that were drawn were a little bit out of the ordinary. On there there is not reference to any of the above. None of it. Rather, it is an analytical voice and compensation for the knowledgeably devoid. It is decrepit, imaginative, forceful, and anxiety-ridden. It's just like that. Spontaneous, perhaps.

WR Prompt 9: YOUR Authentic Act

In the section “Spring” Lasn provides an alternative to “living in the mediacy,” showing that there is a revolutionary legacy from which contemporary culture jammers, Situationalists, Meme Warriors, and other dissident groups have drawn both strength and example. The driving force to live as not the “object but as the subject of the story” may seem counteractive, ridiculous, and even hypocritical to some of you. To others these spontaneous acts of defiance represent courageous, righteous, and necessary mentality.

1) Present me with two examples of these authentic acts: one that you agree with, support, or could even imagine taking part in; another that you oppose, that doesn’t seem worth it to you, or are even offended by. Present each of these, referencing the page or section that discusses it, and give a thorough explanation of your choices. Support your arguments (your feelings) with evidence, (past examples from Lasn, or any other material from lecture, Diamond, Leopold, discussion, or your own lives).

2) Is there an authentic act you could imagine taking part of? What context/ issue/ conditions would you agree to and, more importantly, what outcome would you be aiming for?

3) Finally discuss briefly the need (if any) for defiant/ revolutionary/ protesting forces in society (whether or not it is you personally rebelling). What does these whistle blowers accomplish? Do we think more critically because of them? Do they contribute to our ‘education’? (Informing people of the ecological footprint of their consumer habits). Do they achieve justice? (uncovering or bringing to justice wrongs of the government, corporations, or other powerful entities)?

World Changing Post #7

Art Meets Technology- Page 96

Rebecca Tulis

For my last response, I chose to read Art Meets Technology. I thought that this article was about how today’s technology is created with the help of the art. I was to find out that that wasn’t the case and it was more about how artists are using technology to create works of art that are able to change people’s perceptions.These works of art are not just a way to commentate on society but to strive for environmental awareness.

The article uses the example of a “hug shirt,” a shirt that allows one to feel the warmth and comfort of a hug. The “hug shirt” is a creative idea that allows a person to feel happier. However, another example used makes more of a statement is the game “Disaffected!” This game was made for the player to control employees and deal with problems that may come his or her way. But most of all it was made to send a message about consumption. Finally, the article referred to two different examples that promote environmental awareness. The first one is a recording device that has to do with a person’s environment and how they are interacting with it. This is a good way to allow someone to have more of a connection with his or her environment. The other example is Carbon- sniffing robot that essentially reads carbon dioxide levels in a room. It shows us the reality of how we are poisoning our air.

Reading about art and technology, I have come to the conclusion that while technology can be important to the way we lives our lives, it is up to the artists of the world to make statements about society and communicate it. Some look down on technology for how it has hurt our environment but sometimes it is necessary in order to inform the world of our mistakes.

Steffen, Alex. World Changing: A User's Guider for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008

World Changing Post #6

Conserving Water- Page 187

Rebecca Tulis

I chose to read the article entitled Conserving Water because the conservation of water is an issue I know of but don’t necessarily think about too often. The article talked about how little changes in one’s home can make a huge difference. For instance, the idea of a more efficient shower and low-flow toilet can be utilized in order to conserve. The article also expressed how important it is to know where the used water goes after it is used and use that knowledge to recycle it.

Recycling the water we bathe in can ultimately reduce the amount of water we waste each day. What I found to be beneficial to recycling one’s shower water is the fact that we don’t have to worry how much water we are using during our showers. I find it interesting that there are such products out there that when the water goes down a drain, it is immediately cleaned and therefore can be reused. However, I don’t understand why people are unaware of technologies that can make such a huge difference. I feel that while money may be a concern, if more people were aware of what they can do to redesign their homes in order to conserve water, they would make more of an effort to do so.

ReHOUSE/BATH is a program made to help people realize how much water they are using and therefore conserve. Programs like these can make people aware of the importance of water conservation but I believe that little acts like using a low-flow water fixture could make a world of difference if more people were to apply them to their homes.

Steffen, Alex. World Changing: A User's Guider for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008

WR: 7 + 8

WR: 7 + 8

Paul DiStefano

It was very interesting the way everyone responded to this exercise. Most people responded very similarly in their drawings. The reason I think this is because of the same media we are all exposed to everyday. This is the “brainwashing” that Lasn talks about. We are all exposed to the same icons and logos that are constantly forced into our heads. It is only natural in this day and age that these images would be brought up just from general words and phrases.
However there were still many differences in our reactions to this exercise. The reason I think that we still responded differently is because we are all art students. We are the young creative minds of our future that can break away from that brainwashing and look at things a different way. We have the power to take something and run with it, we don’t let the advertisements and media control what we think. Even though we are still being controlled in a way, I feel that we can use it against itself knowing how the common consumer thinks. We take that and using our knowledge of advertising we can go in a direction that brings about a better reaction than that of the media.
The most interesting response on my specific paper is on the last box, where we described what we thought of from a drawn line. The drawn line was in a shape of a tree. Most people would have written down “tree”, but not this person. This person wrote down “tree shaped Christmas cookie.” This goes to show, and is a great example of how creative minds think. Since it was a very generic tree icon, almost everyone would just think of a tree. There are not many options with that shape. However, instead of this person thinking of a tree when seeing the icon, it was put in a less obvious, more realistic response. A tree shaped Christmas cookie is more realistic because it is actually the shape of that icon, instead of an actual tree that looks very little like that icon.
We can chose to think what we actually do and want to think, or we can give in to the brainwashing that occurs constantly from our media. This exercise and this book is a good wake up call to how we are being controlled, and as art students we need to think for ourselves because we are the creative minds that can build our future.

Thabiso Mhlaba Automatist #7 + 8

Interestingly enough the four people arranged the first set of images into a face. As I was passing papers along I was noticing that a lot of the things drawn were very similar to the images that i saw in my mind but that there were also a number that seemed totally strange to me. This made me think that possibly the psychological cues that we all respond to are different based on how we live. Something that would reaffirm this notion of cults that we have discussed in class. The cults that we each might belong to unknowingly decide how we will respond to certain objects. However the fact that four people are artists might not fit in so well with the cult idea, or perhaps we are a cult with no predetermined cues. Artists by nature think outside what would be the obvious for most people. So we all respond to cues differently from each other which is what would explain the parts that don't make sense to me. Its the same reason why some people would've thought one drawing was a table instead of a clamp. Or why something was a star or an intersection. But as such we also will adapt this extraordinary ideas to existing ones. Which is why the focus of the first panel moved away from being seperate drawings of individual objects into the creation of one object with multiple elements.
Inclusion into a cult is not optional. It is something that is decided by your environment. The only people who exist outside of the consumerist cults that Lasn mentions are those who have lived in exclusion from urban society or rather 1st world society. Its difficult to put a date on the cults that Lasn speaks of because human beings have always been existing in communities. We are social by nature and as such form groups with people with similar personalities and ideals. All that consumerism does is market to these specific groups and attempt to define the beliefs of those groups. However I would argue that those beliefs existed before the markets for them. I don't believe that the images shown in the exercise are any real indication of consumerism because we have been studying the topic and are more aware of the forces at work to manipulate peoples behavior we have become a bit more resistant to those forces.
Such would be in agreement with DaDa principles. We do not wish to be categorized and lumped in with the rest of the consumers in the world. So we purposely ignore the first image that may come to our mind hoping to fight the jolts and subliminal messaging. I myself found myself viewing the exercise as simply a chance to draw more and I wasn't really worried about the relation that what I drew had with the words on the board. Maybe that was a programmed reaction of my Artist cult its difficult to know. But it leaves me with the question that if these cults really do exist how does one define them and determine which one they are in? Because surely human beings are diverse enough that we all have multiple feelings on multiple issues and very rarely share ALL the same views that someone else has. Even with in the group of artists we argue over the most basic topic there is "What is art?"
Maybe cults don't really exist we just think they do because we subconciously aim to belong to one.

"Ryan Thurmer’s Automatist Excercise"

WR:7&8

There’s something very confining about having the total freedom to respond to words or images in a 2in x 2in square piece of paper. All but one of the squares on my sheet appear to be in a list form starting from the top left corning and meandering their way down. I did this because of the unknown amount of words or symbols I would have to respond to, to save space in my 2’’x2’’ box. Perhaps though we were all just taught uniformly in our ways of communicating with pen and paper. This uniformity, though, offers a balanced symmetry for us to work with, as can be see in the left two squares. Though they many not have a direct connection to meaning their composition fits together almost like a two puzzle pieces.The right two squares are connected conceptually and compositionally. And exclamation of “OUCH!” which graphically points down to a container labeled “Rx” and a hand reaching out which takes the eye back up to “OUCH!”. This could be conceived as a message about out pain tolerance and what we do when we get the slightest injury. Instead of drinking water to get rid of a head ache, we take a few Tylenol, the cycle continues.
Now what are the influences of consumerism on our choices of what to write or draw? Again I believe the right and left side are separated here. The top left square has mostly geometric symbols, and a few organic forms. I can’t see a link to consumerism in her choice to draw these symbols but consumerism could be a factor in whomever looks at these and associates a circle with an iPod’s click wheel, or the zig-zag shape with a zipper, and so on. Below are the words written after presented with shapes: “ magnet/macaroni, sea creature, cannon/rooster, x, mouse.” The associations between these words and their image counterparts is part of a survival skill (know your environment and be able to identify it, size it up, and choose to stay or run away). My environment is full of images from past, present, and future environments many things I’ve never even used, or know much about came to mind (like the cannon). The right side I believe is directly related to media, comic books, graphics on the television and internet, give us images of what pain looks like on paper (“OUCH!”), and what healing looks like. We see thousands of symbols everyday (much like the trigger mechanism we’ve been discussing: you see, you do...) and I’m not so sure if ouch is the natural exclamation of pain, perhaps that has been programed into us from day one. Again the symbol for medication: here is the literal symbol for medication, a pill bottle with “Rx” on the label. How many of us know the where the symbol “Rx” comes from or what it even means, yet we use that as a reference, and people understand what we’re referencing.
Though our intentions, and responses may have been involuntarily the “first things to come to mind” they may not be all that natural, and perhaps we have a lot more subconscious media influenced relationships with images and words that we thought.

7 & 8

1) The diagonal placement of the stitches in the first panel creates a feeling of movement and when placed into the context of the next panel, a feeling of confusion. The next panel sets up the story of a lost child in a city, and the following panel shows medications. The final panel seems to be a collection of random words.

The story they tell for me is a story of what this child, lost alone in the city, is seeing and feeling in the first panel. The chaotic mix of objects and lines show the confusion and emotional and visual overload the child is experiencing. The next panel explicitly sets up this story in fragmented speech reflective of the quick shift of thoughts and gaze shown in the first panel. The following two panels show the ramifications of such an experience; now the child requires medication to deal with the anxieties of being left alone and the last panel shows the change in thoughts to disconnected ideas without meaning. These words are indicative of the child's mental state following his or her new drug regiment.



3) I think throughout the exercise I was aware of the possibility of my answers strongly reflecting the ideas embedded by advertisements and overall consumerism, and I think because of that the answers I drew or wrote I consciously made an effort to separate them from my original advertisement based instincts. I wonder if this affected other people's responses as well, because for me it's hard to tell if the answers come from the influences of consumerism. The story about feeling pain seems like a separate and purely humanly felt experience, separate from ideas of pain or fear generated from television or otherwise. With the medications, I guess it's reflective of the kinds of medications we'd take; there are no examples of any sort of natural remedies or otherwise. My experiences with medications are limited to what I can buy from the store as opposed to what I can make myself, so this panel has some taints of consumerism. It's easier, and it is portrayed as being easier and more effective, to take these kinds of medications that can be obtained and manufactured by someone else than it would be to seek some sort of natural solution to our aches and pains.

Response 7 and 8: Kathie's Automatist Exercise

The content of each square relate to each other in pairs such as the first and third square relate to each other and the second and fourth square relate to each other. It seems that the third square is telling the story of the first square with its various shapes as well as the second square telling the story of the fourth square by illustrating that with a broken arm, the character had to consume various medication. Therefore, it seems that the element as a whole is split through the middle to tell separate stories such as in chapters. So, there seems to be a narrative formed but seems that there are two different narratives that is happening at the same time. For the second and fourth square, I can visualize the pair as a commercial for medication or any advertisement associated with medicine due to the narrative that states “ kindergarten on the monkey bars equals broken arm,” which is directly associated with image of a character taking medication. However, just like consumerism of various products that are influence through the media, I interpreted the that the person who drew fourth square mocking an advertisement through the character saying “blah blah blah,” which shows that media speaks out information that people take in daily to influence a higher rate of consumerism and production. The aggregate effect of the four people’s contributions seems to fit in with each other as well as it seems that many of the people seems to think similarly when we were asked to fill in these squares. Therefore, as we would pass down the paper, I would notice that the majority of the people would have similar ideas and visual interpretation to the prompt for all or most of the squares.

It may be that the majority of the people think and interpret the prompt for each square similarly due to the influence of media and consumerism. For instance, the first square consisted of shapes that one person drew after a word was read a loud. However, even during the exercise, I had noticed that most people drew down similar shapes, which may have been influenced by the media and information that we take in daily through consumerism, or according to Lasn, the brain washing of the consumer society was successful through manipulating the way that we all think similarly given the same prompt. The shapes do make some kind of concrete reference to production and consumption due to some shapes having an industrial forms to them such as the rectangle, which is often associated with production like boxes, to assembly lines, to various other products as well as other shapes such as the jagged lines. However, there are a few shapes that have an organic form that I interpreted as landscape but those shapes can also reference production and consumption, such as various shapes that are often associated with products such as the jagged shape in which someone might say that it was influenced by nature (autumn leaves) or even the production and consumerism of products (even products such as marijuana).

Pete Hall WR 7&8

Pete Hall

Response 7&8

As I start this response, I wonder if it is possible to really get out of our ‘media-polluted brains’. Our media polluted society is everywhere, always; how do you get out? But perhaps that is exactly the point of this exercise.

In looking at the exercise at a large scale and considering all of the squares at once, there seems to be little similarities between all four. The drawing squares are similar in that they are all simple line drawings, symbols really. I assume that the people who drew these symbols were simply looking at drawing the first thing that came to mind quickly. Thus symbols make the most sense at quickly relating the image that came to their head when the corresponding word was given. Perhaps this exercise was created with the supposition that we would draw simple symbols. I’m sure some people will say that symbols are used heavily in advertising to remind us of brands and create instant recognition for the consumers. Such as the Target bulls eye. Most people probably associate a red bulls eye with Target stores. But symbols were not a creation of advertising corporations; humans and even animals have used symbols for thousands of years, they are a natural tool. It is true that advertising corporations adopt symbols, but I think this exercise is trying to say that we drew symbols because of our ‘media-polluted brains’. Which is, in my opinion, not why we drew symbols, we drew symbols because we had a short amount of time and symbols are quick easy representations of ideas. The word house is not a house; it is a symbol for the idea of a house. Our lines are simply symbols for a word, a quick idea, not a representation of our media polluted brains. Now this of course would be a different issue if we had drawn the Target bull’s eye.

On my sheet, the only part that jumps out to me as production driven/ consumerism is one of the drawings on the bottom right square, the elongated oval with the bisecting line. This to me looks like a pill, Advil perhaps. Specifically to me it looks like an Advil Liquid Gel. As far as I can remember I’ve never taken an Advil Liquid Gel, or at least never bought them myself, but I still know what it looks like and know the full brand name. I don’t know if the person who drew this was thinking of an Advil Liquid Gel, or even a pill, but I’ve seen enough commercials and spent enough time in this consumerism “cult” to make the connection in my head. I would really like to know the word that prompted this drawing. Was it ‘Medicine’? I can easily see a pill being drawn for that. Or was it ‘Health’? If it was health that would strongly point to a consumerist, easy way out, tendency to over medicate for small problems. Perhaps seeing so many drug and pharmacy commercials has made us a nation of hypochondriacs. We’ve seen Swine Flu reported on so many times that we can convince ourselves that the normal flu, or even a common cold, is swine flu. We’ve seen it on the TV, why couldn’t it happen to me?

Weekly Response 7&8

Lauren Korany

During discussion, we were asked to take part in an exercise. Each of the class members folded a paper into four squares and drew images (or wrote words) in response to the prompt we were given. The page was passed to the right after each person did his or her response. The paper in which I have been assigned has one square that I have answered a prompt and the rest from 3 different individuals. As I was analyzing each square in depth, I noticed a sequence in the four squares. If you were to look at the squares as if you were reading a book (from left to right, then bottom left to right) you can see the pattern. The first square portrays a series of symbols. Symbols in themselves are hard to identify unless you know their context. The box is full of incoherent symbols. The second box reads “painful, headache”. Although this is not descriptive, it leads from the first square in an interesting manner. The over-bearing incoherent symbols have created “painful, headache”. This is a cause and effect sequence. The next square portrays a figure next to a pile of medication and drugs. The pile is quite large. The figure also appears to be highly “influenced” by the drugs. He has dilated eyes and a huge smile, with his arms triumphantly thrown up into the air. The square transitions into the fourth square that is taken up by the first work “SMILE”. The box is followed by a series of other words but the first is the largest, bolded, and most prominent word in the box. In my eyes, the sequence follows as; overwhelming amount of incoherent symbols (logos, advertisements)--mental pain--solution: mental diagnosis and drugs--relief. This is a great indicator of what Lasn sees in consumer society. Over-advertising causes the population to become over-stimulated, so they seek escape in medication and mind-alterations. This is the psychological baggage from consumerism.

In the Chapters Spring, Lasn introduces the term “Situationist.” (100-109) This group of people was the generations that defied the established order of society. Not only were the Dadaists included under this umbrella, but so were the anarchists, surrealists, automatists, fluxists, hippies, beats and visionaries (100). All of these groups had the same goal in common, to break away from the commercialism and everyday spectacle. Dada in itself was a cultural movement “that was based on the principles of deliberate irrationality, anarchy, and cynicism and the rejection of laws of beauty and social organization.” (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature) They were taking the new route, just as Lasn points out. He uses the example of the Sex Pistols, a British punk band that had a hit called “Anarchy in the UK”. Even though these groups rose at different time periods, they countered and responded to the structures in which they lived.

After reading this chapter I felt inspired to take action on things I was passionate about. Lasn quotes Edward Abbey (117) saying, “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul”. This really spoke to me. I realized that I had fallen into the habit of being passive, dreaming of solutions that I did not have the willpower to set into action. I suppose this would be the same fire that the Dadaists had felt at one point. I do not need to work under a group, but I have not been the prime example of an “activist” in the past. I used to feel that it was hopeless to try to change something, and even so, I did not know where to start.

Rebecca’s Automatist Exercise #7/8

This “get out of your media-polluted brain” exercise was meant to let ourselves free and to be impervious to everything around us. I, however, wonder if this is even attainable because both our surroundings and the media influence most of what we do or say. Is it possible to forget about what society expects of us and follow our own paths? Either way, everything we had put on this piece of paper was influenced somehow by consumerism. All four squares aren’t conceptually similar, however, they do relate by which all images and words weren’t formed through individuality rather instruction.

I will begin by talking about the first square, where we were told to draw shapes that define a certain word. The first square looks rather thought out and made to be something both abstract and appealing. The person who drew the first square may have wanted to make something beautiful out of it because he or she thought that that was expected of him or her as an art student. The second square (to the left) has words that describe one’s first memory. Here the person went straight to the point and used words that allow the viewer to understand what had happened during this memory. However, I wonder if he or she had done this because he knew someone was going to read it and felt the need to be as direct as possible. In the third square, we were told to draw a representation of all the medicine we had taken in our lives. Our ideas about medication and the sometime negative aspects to it are always presented in the media and the artist who drew the medicine bottle and tallies was most likely affected by societies’ view of medicine. Finally, the fourth square was the one I had made. We had to write down the words we thought of when we saw a certain shape. I believe this part was most affected by my exposure to the media or consumerism. Almost everything I had imagined when we saw each shape was created by the images I have been exposed to in my environment.

All four boxes were shaped by what is expected of us and while this was a totally free exercise, we still couldn’t stray away from everything that influences us. In Culture Jam, Lasn talks about how society is essentially controlled by consumerism whereas we are told what to consume and how to think. Lasn wants us to stop depending on corporations and the media. This much relates to the ideas of Dadaism where Dadaism is anti-war movement that deviates away from the traditional in order to make certain statements. Dada art denounces society and reveals the world as it is without trying to change peoples’ ideals. Lasn also tries to do this within his book. To go alongside the ideas of Dadaism and Lasn, what were to happen if we were totally unaffected by consumerism and what the world expects of us? What would be in these four squares? Whatever would be drawn, these four boxes would have been completely uninfluenced, therefore are shaped by our own independent beliefs.

Lasn, Kalle. Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America. New York: Eagle Brook, 1999

WR 7&8

Kristen Zelenka
Weekly Response 7&8
8 November 2009

Last week in class we were asked to complete four different exercises in a corresponding quadrant of a grid we were given. Between each exercise we passed it to the person next to us. First, we were given a series of words that we had to draw symbols of. Second, we wrote descriptive words about the first time that we felt pain. Third, we were asked to draw our response to how much medication we have taken in our lives. The fourth and final exercise was almost a reversal of the first, we were shown drawings and we had to write down the first word that came into mind.

Between the four squares that I ended up with, there are a variety of styles that the four different people used in completing the exercise. However, everybody used pencil and everybody stayed within the boundaries of the box provided to him or her. The boxes are drawn in stark black sharpie and remind me of cubicles. The two drawings filled the area of the square while the two boxes where there was writing both started in the left hand corner of their respective boxes. The first box looks more like logos, clean and concise, while the third is more of an emotional sketch and a collage of different ideas. If I had to characterize the creative type of individual that completed these two boxes, I would say that the first was a graphic designer, the third a fine artist due to their drawing styles. The items listed in the fourth box are all definite objects that one could buy but in the first box, which was the reverse of the exercise, I cannot definitely tell the word that the symbol represents.

I would say that the first, third, and fourth boxes all relate to consumerism. The first, as mentioned before, resemble logos because of how they are cleanly drawn and arranged. The third denotes a lost of consumer goods that you could buy. The fourth is about medication and I instantly associate that with drug companies and insurance plans, especially with the huge bottle that takes up the majority of the space. However, the second box is more of a personal story and something relating to the individual’s mom. It made me think more of family and not of a consumer background. Despite this, I believe that with how the exercise was set up, talking about how consumerism rules our lives, it might influence our responses more than if it was not given in the same setting. We also completed the exercise while in class, where we the students are the consumers of the university that is a service provider.