Whirl Mart
If anyone in the New York area wants to prove to themselves that Solomon Grundy is a real person, not just a JT Leroy-esque literary hoax, I will be at this delightful event Sunday:
WHIRL MART
Sunday, January 15th
1:45-2:45p
Bed, Bath & Beyond
6th Avenue between 18th and 19th streets, Manhattan
917 538 7505, 518 573 7947
Whirl Mart
Looking for a leisurely way to spend your Sunday afternoon resisting
consumerism? Join us. Whirl-Mart was conceived as a way to poetically
and peacefully state our collective disrespect for the capitalist
world order and to display our opposition to the values of
competition, domination, and exploitation imposed upon us by consumer
culture.
Not meant to be an attack on any specific corporation, Whirl-Mart is
a ritual of consumption awareness. Reclaiming commercial space
through the simple act of not shopping. We target superstores
(cathedrals of consumption) because they are symbolic both of the
religious faith modern humans invest in material consumption, and of
the seemingly inescapable corporate superstructure in which we live.
In the first Whirl-Mart on April Fools Day, 2001, individuals entered
a Wal-Mart store in Troy, NY, and processed as a single-file parade
throughout the store for nearly two hours. Now, nearly five years
after the first whirl, it is still going on: all across the US, and
in Sweden, Finland, England, Mexico, and Canada.
Whirl with us this Sunday. Arrive at Bed, Bath and Beyond anytime
between 1:45 and 2:15, alone or in small groups. Enter the store,
find yourself a shopping cart, and start pushing it through the
aisles. It's a zen thing -- move slowly, keep your focus forward;
don't let the products seduce you into shopping, but be aware of all
that is around you. Explore the escalators, which have special lifts
just for shopping carts. When you see another person with an empty
cart, don't greet her, but do fall in line behind her. And don't be
surprised when you start to hear the squeak of other shopping carts
behind you. If anyone asks what you're doing, you may calmly say,
"I'm not shopping." Relax, enjoy, and try not to giggle.
Tags:
wal martwhirl martactivismconsumerism
WHIRL MART
Sunday, January 15th
1:45-2:45p
Bed, Bath & Beyond
6th Avenue between 18th and 19th streets, Manhattan
917 538 7505, 518 573 7947
Whirl Mart
Looking for a leisurely way to spend your Sunday afternoon resisting
consumerism? Join us. Whirl-Mart was conceived as a way to poetically
and peacefully state our collective disrespect for the capitalist
world order and to display our opposition to the values of
competition, domination, and exploitation imposed upon us by consumer
culture.
Not meant to be an attack on any specific corporation, Whirl-Mart is
a ritual of consumption awareness. Reclaiming commercial space
through the simple act of not shopping. We target superstores
(cathedrals of consumption) because they are symbolic both of the
religious faith modern humans invest in material consumption, and of
the seemingly inescapable corporate superstructure in which we live.
In the first Whirl-Mart on April Fools Day, 2001, individuals entered
a Wal-Mart store in Troy, NY, and processed as a single-file parade
throughout the store for nearly two hours. Now, nearly five years
after the first whirl, it is still going on: all across the US, and
in Sweden, Finland, England, Mexico, and Canada.
Whirl with us this Sunday. Arrive at Bed, Bath and Beyond anytime
between 1:45 and 2:15, alone or in small groups. Enter the store,
find yourself a shopping cart, and start pushing it through the
aisles. It's a zen thing -- move slowly, keep your focus forward;
don't let the products seduce you into shopping, but be aware of all
that is around you. Explore the escalators, which have special lifts
just for shopping carts. When you see another person with an empty
cart, don't greet her, but do fall in line behind her. And don't be
surprised when you start to hear the squeak of other shopping carts
behind you. If anyone asks what you're doing, you may calmly say,
"I'm not shopping." Relax, enjoy, and try not to giggle.
Tags:
wal martwhirl martactivismconsumerism
posted by Solomon Grundy @ 11:54 AM
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