Untitled
by
Travis Millard
from his fudge factory notebooks
The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction.... The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyperreal.
What you have to do is enter the fiction of America, enter America as fiction. It is, indeed, on this fictive basis that it dominates the world.
Last night, while conversing with some friends, my buddy A.H. handed me a copy of Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, which I intend to devour just as soon as this bloody semester is over. From the explanation I got last night, and from what I could find out about him on the net (you can go here and here), it seems that Baudrillard and I agree on the fact that there is no such thing as “real” anymore. A.H. says the guy isn’t a philosopher so much as a political, cultural, and economic thinker - which usually turns me off - but regardless of that, I’m interested in further exploring the idea of “the fake” versus “the real.” Especially because I think the whole notion of “reality” is rubbish: it's such a terribly overrated mode of misunderstanding our personal experiences. In short, I think “keeping it real” as the kids love to say, is about the silliest waste of time one could ever attempt to engage in. Quite obviously, there is no “real” in which to keep it. This makes me wonder why our culture tries so hard to push the agenda of being "real” or “honest” when, according to Baudrillard, we are experiencing only a copy of a lost original, therefore we cannot and will not ever know "the real" let alone "the truth" from which we seek to accurately represent ourselves.
I vote for a new movement wherein everyone attempts to be as “fake” as they possibly can. Forget “keeping it real” try “keeping it fake” -- because the only truth is that we’re all fake. Not one of us is real - so why try to be or pretend that we are?
by
Travis Millard
from his fudge factory notebooks
The very definition of the real becomes: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction.... The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced. The hyperreal.
- Jean Baudrillard
from his essay "The Hyperrealism of Simulation" (1983)
from his essay "The Hyperrealism of Simulation" (1983)
What you have to do is enter the fiction of America, enter America as fiction. It is, indeed, on this fictive basis that it dominates the world.
- Jean Baudrillard
from his essay "Astral America" (1988)
from his essay "Astral America" (1988)
Last night, while conversing with some friends, my buddy A.H. handed me a copy of Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation, which I intend to devour just as soon as this bloody semester is over. From the explanation I got last night, and from what I could find out about him on the net (you can go here and here), it seems that Baudrillard and I agree on the fact that there is no such thing as “real” anymore. A.H. says the guy isn’t a philosopher so much as a political, cultural, and economic thinker - which usually turns me off - but regardless of that, I’m interested in further exploring the idea of “the fake” versus “the real.” Especially because I think the whole notion of “reality” is rubbish: it's such a terribly overrated mode of misunderstanding our personal experiences. In short, I think “keeping it real” as the kids love to say, is about the silliest waste of time one could ever attempt to engage in. Quite obviously, there is no “real” in which to keep it. This makes me wonder why our culture tries so hard to push the agenda of being "real” or “honest” when, according to Baudrillard, we are experiencing only a copy of a lost original, therefore we cannot and will not ever know "the real" let alone "the truth" from which we seek to accurately represent ourselves.
I vote for a new movement wherein everyone attempts to be as “fake” as they possibly can. Forget “keeping it real” try “keeping it fake” -- because the only truth is that we’re all fake. Not one of us is real - so why try to be or pretend that we are?
