#lofidelica

"The clutch bag also boasted a feature that curiously reflected men’s sexual castration anxiety – it..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:02:00 +0100

“The clutch bag also boasted a feature that curiously reflected men’s sexual castration anxiety – it snapped shut. In Freud’s case histories, femininity, perceived as both seductive and threatening, was revealed as a recurrent source of neurosis and fear of castration in men. The clutch bag, with its snipping metal jaws, became a vagina dentata
that evoked the fear of men’s diminishing masculinity in the wake of women’s increasing financial independence.”

- Accessories to the Facts, Libertine magazine (April) http://www.signsalad.com/media-store/2013/04/098_Handbags.pdf

The rapid rise of smart technologies can make creating and...

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:59:52 +0100

The rapid rise of smart technologies can make creating and maintaining meaningful human relationships a challenge. In response, EatWith offers its users an authentic dining experience coupled with the opportunity to form new social bonds. Touted as the Airbnb for dinner parties, EatWith is a community marketplace that lets members enjoy authentic and intimate dining experiences in other people’s homes. Currently available in Israel and Barcelona but with the ambition to spread worldwide, EatWith enables locals to open their kitchens to people from all over the world. By doing so, it provides the opportunity for a new kind of serendipitous socialising within an intimate setting. (via EatWith: social dining experiences)

From offal to breast milk, experimental eating is grabbing...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:10:45 +0000

From offal to breast milk, experimental eating is grabbing headlines, and Mexican street food chain Wahaca’s new grasshopper dish is no exception. While the high protein content is a potential selling point, the real offering is a taste of authenticity – the introduction of genuinely ‘foreign’ foods to a cosmopolitan London.

Previously the preserve of the occasional enthusiastic journalist returning from South East Asia, an emerging culture of experimentation has seen creepy crawly snacks gain traction in the West. Yet despite this, the ‘yuck’ label remains; novelty – and a degree of bravado – are still intrinsic to their appeal. With the recent horse meat scandal eroding consumer confidence in affordable meat, is the time right for novelty sustainable dishes like Wahaca’s grasshopper fondue to broaden their remit?

(…continues @ A taste of authenticity: Wahaca’s grasshopper fondue)

It is mainly consumerism, rather than the hippie movement that...

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 12:03:00 +0000

It is mainly consumerism, rather than the hippie movement that massively contributed to the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. In fact, the “sex sells” truism has been attributed to Hugh Heffner, who anecdotally coined it in defense of his, at the time (1953), controversial magazine Playboy. And while sexual innuendo has been used to sell anything from cars to chocolate, actual sex was confined to sketchy alleys, blacked out windows and red light districts.

Even 2011’s Fifty Shades of Grey attributed its success to the rise of e-book readers that don’t reveal the book cover during a commute. But soon enough, the book’s physical edition not only became prominently displayed on said trains and buses, it even appeared on supermarket shelves next to the lunchtime 3 for 1 specials.

“What EL James has done is clearly taken erotic fiction to the mainstream. It’s not that women weren’t reading it, it’s just that it wasn’t available in Tesco and Sainsbury’s. So more power to her,” says Gillian Green at Ebury Publishing for The Guardian. “It’s like we’ve got permission to enjoy it – she’s the acceptable face of saucy fiction.”

Critics, however, remain puzzled by the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon, since erotica has been done before and far more juicily, take for instance Nancy Friday’s My Secret Garden (1973). So EL James’s success is typically attributed to the recession, when publishers would predictably turn to sex as a last resort to sell.

However, there may be far more to it and erotic fiction could be just a part of the entire sex category going mainstream. For example, a new company called Smile Makers have already taken steps towards disrupting the category through innovative design. Their intention is to take the world of sex toys into the health & beauty aisles with other consumer products; while their line of vibrators follows precisely the erotic fiction icons of male sexiness such as “The Millionaire” and “The Tennis Coach”.

One may argue that multinational chain Ann Summers has already succeeded in making sex mainstream, through its focus on women and its home parties. But we have yet to see sexual fantasy sold in pharmacies and the health & beauty sections of the “Big Five” supermarkets.

Finally, this would potentially also affect the sexual innuendo employed in other industries. Sex will still sell, except not through indulgence and ‘being naughty’ but through wholesomeness and ‘good for you’.

(via When Sex Sells in Supermarkets – Sign Salad)

(via The Meaning of Birthdays in the Age of Social Networking –...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:39:02 +0000

(via The Meaning of Birthdays in the Age of Social Networking – Sign Salad)

A new project at Selfridges is the latest experiment in the...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:36:00 +0000

A new project at Selfridges is the latest experiment in the power of silence. A quiet oasis in the midst of a hectic shopping environment in central London, it testifies to a growing interest in the benefits of quiet introspection.

UK department store Selfridges has launched a No Noise project based on their Silence Room, re-opened for the first time in over 90 years to offer a quiet oasis in the midst of the hectic shopping experience in central London. The campaign invites customers to “celebrate the power of quiet, see the beauty in function and find calm among the crowds.” Launched immediately after the frantic seasonal sales, the campaign has effectively turned the natural tendency of the post-Christmas wind-down into a shopping opportunity.

(via How Selfridges made noise about being quiet, Canvas8)

(via 9GAG - Rakia Classification)

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:13:44 +0000

(via 9GAG - Rakia Classification)

danila kozlovsky as max in dukhless

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 21:07:13 +0000

danila kozlovsky as max in dukhless

Rebellious fashion brand Diesel is encouraging people to go...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:32:53 +0000

Rebellious fashion brand Diesel is encouraging people to go offline. Is this just controversy for controversy’s sake or does it reflect a real and growing disillusionment with online experiences?

At a time when most brands are anxious to find even better ways to connect with youth and catch up with the fast-paced digital age, Diesel has taken the counter-intuitive approach and invites the world to disconnect, take a step back to the pre-internet times and do ‘real’ things.

The occasion of the call to go offline is the international relaunch of the 1993 classic YUK shoe, which pre-dates the internet. Therefore, the act of putting on the shoe is presented as an opportunity to step back in time, “do stuff, meet people and have real offline fun!”

In this spirit, Diesel asks its audience a few key questions regarding their connected life, such as: “When did sharing become annoying, and liking just a pointless online gesture?”, and “Why do you know what your friend’s lunch looks like, and how is this making the world a better place?”

But how can Diesel connect with fans while promoting disconnection?

(via Diesel YUK relaunch: promoting ‘pre-internet’ experiences)

All adventurous women do.

Tue, 25 Sep 2012 11:22:43 +0100

andvekur:

The world through OCPD lens (via Равнајс! | Off)

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 16:32:31 +0100

The world through OCPD lens

(via Равнајс! | Off)

rwise: ”Popular culture is the new Babylon, into which so much...

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:05:09 +0100

rwise:

”Popular culture is the new Babylon, into which so much art and intellect now flow. It is our imperial sex theater, supreme temple of the western eye. We live in the age of idols. The pagan past, never dead, flames again in our mystic hierarchies of stardom.”

Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae

The Cultural Codes of Indulgence

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 18:03:47 +0100

The Cultural Codes of Indulgence:

rwise:

Indulgence and “dulce” come from the same Latin word as softness and the word indulgence variously signals “release from penalty,” “dissipation,” “special permission,” and, of course, “luxury.”

The word itself is fraught with censoriousness, says cultural trends expert Andy…

SemioticaStudio » Semiofest – A (real) celebration of Semiotic Thinking

Tue, 29 May 2012 02:55:37 +0100

SemioticaStudio » Semiofest – A (real) celebration of Semiotic Thinking

HOW TO BECOME A SEMIOTICIAN: A DECALOGUE

Mon, 28 May 2012 16:19:00 +0100

presented at Semiofest 2012

Massimo Leone, Department of Philosophy, University of Turin

1. You shall study semiotics; choosing a good university course with a good teacher; reading books, articles, essays; going back to the classics, avoiding compendiums, readers, and also most online materials: they are not good (for the moment);
2. You shall practice semiotics; initially through purposeless analysis; through interpretation for the sake of interpretation; annoy your friends with semiotics;
3. You shall befriend other semioticians; meeting them regularly not only on the web, but also in congresses, symposia, colloquia; remember to celebrate semio-festivities;
4. You shall not turn semiotics into a rhetoric; semiotics’ purpose is to help other people to understand meaning, not to convince them that you understand it better than them;
5. You shall not turn semiotics into magic; semiotics is a discipline, one should be disciplined in learning and in practicing it;
6. You shall not turn semiotics into religion; semiotics is only one out of a multitude of options; respect other disciplines and ask respect from them;
7. You shall not turn semiotics into science; let’s face it: semiotics is part of the humanities; thank god meaning will never be ruled by the laws of necessity;
8. You shall not turn semiotics into mystery; if nobody understands you but other semioticians, you are a failure;
9. You shall not turn semiotics into bar conversation; if everybody appreciates you except other semioticians, you are a failure too;
10. You shall not be worried that your mother doesn’t understand what you do; most people who do new things have skeptical mothers.

(photo from Tim Stock’s presentation on Semiotics and Framing Cultural Insights)

In 2006, Ford Motor Co. mortgaged its logo in exchange for a...

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:57:03 +0100

In 2006, Ford Motor Co. mortgaged its logo in exchange for a $23.5 billion restructuring loan. Last month, however, Fitch Ratings raised the automaker’s credit and the company is now on the way to regaining one of its major assets. In the words of Ford’s former CFO Lewis Booth (1), getting the Blue Oval back would have an “enormous” psychological impact on the company. So why was it initially dropped for the Go Further campaign? (via Sandra Mardin - Go Further without a logo)

alessi brothers / seabird (by juiceemaree)

Thu, 17 May 2012 23:34:10 +0100

alessi brothers / seabird (by juiceemaree)

The Neurocritic: Neuro Bliss and Neuro Codeine

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:03:11 +0100

The Neurocritic: Neuro Bliss and Neuro Codeine

"Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world, looking at the urge to capture every image, experience..."

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:25:17 +0100

“Aleks Krotoski explores the digital world, looking at the urge to capture every image, experience and feeling for online eternity and how technology touches everything people do, both on and offline”

- BBC - BBC Radio 4 Programmes - The Digital Human

This is related to an article I wrote for Semionaut last year on Structured Eternity.

(via SemioFest, a celebration of semiotic thinking)

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:37:50 +0100

(via SemioFest, a celebration of semiotic thinking)