The Society of the Spectacle

In 1967, before the recognition of globalization and mass consumerism, The Society of the Spectacle offered an eerily accurate prediction of our mediated, image-saturated times. Debord argued that authentic human life had been replaced with mere representation, eroding our critical abilities, our knowledge and our perceptions. "In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation." "It reads - if you will savour a cliche - as fresh as paint - Never before has Debord´s work seemed quite as relevant as it does now, in the permanent present that he so accurately foretold. Open it, read it, be amazed, pour yourself a glass of supermarket wine - as he would wish - and then forget all about it, which is what the Spectacle wants." Will Self