The Society of the Spectacle and Adrian Piper

"Separation is the alpha and omega of the spectacle." - Guy Debord

When Debord explains this, he mentions "[t]he institutionalization of the social division of labor, [and] the formation of classes". This immediately reminded me of the human nature to categorize, or as the expression goes, "put people into boxes". Although Debord goes on to hypothesize that the spectacle is a unifying force that affects all classes the same way, I believe that the spectacle also enforces the separation of people through messages of individualism, or constantly labeling people and their actions. This, in turn, reminded me of the stereotypes and labels in society that Adrian Piper challenged with her work. Using that as an inspiration I created a slightly less subtle and more general piece addressing the tendency of people to categorize and label to a point where it becomes a metaphorical trap. I visualized this by trapping myself in a literal box. I had also entertained the idea of publicly displaying this as Adrian Piper would have, but decided it would not be safe with the box covering my face and arms.