Jean Baudrillard’s concept of the orders of simulacra Essay

A commodity appears at world-class sight, a actually trivial thing, and easily chthonianstood. Its analysis shows that it is in reality, a very queer thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties (Marx).It has long been a condition of western culture to act for the accumulation of material objects. This is in part due to the capitalist nature of the world within which we live. Marx identifies in The Critique of Capitalism the issuance of two recent classes of people, namely capitalists and labourers. The term capitalist describes any person who has personal birthership of capital, which consists of stark materials, instruments of labour and means of subsistence (Marx). In contrast a labourer has only the set of his labour (life activity), which he exchanges with the capitalist for a wage and as such the worker sinks to the level of commodity (Marx).Beca riding habit the labourer produces for the capitalist a commodity of greater value than that of his wages and in growth those wages ar compensable back to the capitalist in return for subsistence, thus social control in exerted over the functional class, whilst providing the capitalist with excess commodity. The labourer consentingly becomes a slave to the system on which he depends. In addition Marx states that as the relation amid capitalist and labourer (manufacturer and consumer) develops, so disputation between rival capitalists becomes apparent.In progeny the capitalist is forced to capture more of the market by selling goods more chintzily by the consolidation and exploitation of labour power e.g. by machinery. Such a strategy finally limits the demand for labour and so new industries must be developed for exploitation. These new industries are required because capital exists only in relation to its ability to command labour and social control and as such they reciprocally condition the conception of each other (Marx). These forced increases in demand and theref ore increaseion are evident in the contemporary world market.Important to the development of Capitalism is the use of m adepty which abstracts labour and commodity set to a common unit for the purpose of trade. In case the labourer discovers that the product of his activity is not the object of his activity (Marx) thus a level of synopsis occurs, which was consistent with the modern fontist values of the time.Karl Marx and early capitalism were mainly concerned with production which remains important nevertheless it was Situationist, Guy Debord, who gave the first insights into late capitalism and the theories that best apply to todays world economics and culture of commodities. Debord, in his book The Society of the Spectacle, bases his examination of commodities around use, media, in playation and technology. As such Debord suggests that in societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everythi ng that was directly lived has moved away(p) into a representation. By this he means to describe the world and its products as mere appearances, where the real meanings and values of commodities are translated into propertys.Essentially it is a world vision that has been objectified (Debord). Debord explains the phenomenon of the spectacle as resulting from the ever increasing production of capitalism. Because competition between capitalists inevitably leads to an excess of produce, so consumer demand must be increased. Such an increase is governable by the spectacle as the real consumer becomes a consumer of illusions, (Debord) so he mass be manipulated to believe he must consume beyond the elemental necessity for survival e.g. leisure products. Therefore the spectacles form and content are identically the total justification of the existing systems conditions and goals (Debord).The spectacle is intermediate in society as information or propaganda, as advertisement or direct e ntertainment consumption, (Debord). The effects of the mediated spectacle tend to lead the consumer to an experience of alienation as the consumers want for commodities is dictated to serve and find capitalism. In addition the spectacle constantly reinforces itself, for use the television, which is in itself a product of the spectacle that is then used by the capitalist to implement the advertisement of other spectacles.Essentially the spectacle is the nightmare of imprisoned modern society (Debord) and explains the spiritual rebirth from the degradation of universe into having to having into appearing (Debord).Jean Baudrillard took Marxs Critique of Capitalism and Debords The Society of the Spectacle to their conclusions with his own theory of dissembling and simulacra. Similar to the idea of the spectacle, Baudrillard describes a world where the subject of everything has been replaced by a semiological value that has become more important than the original, real meaning of t he object. This object he calls a simulacra. In Simulacra and theoretical account Baudrillard adds extra complexity to these ideas by establishing a hierarchy of simulation, which he gives four decrees. In the first order the object is a copy of an original and so can be linked to a basic reality, for example a pullulate of an actual event.The second order of simulation misrepresents the original subject in the example the photography has been digitally manipulated in Photoshop to present a non-occurrence. In the trine order a reality is recreated from a simulation of an original reality, when in fact, through the process of simulacra, the original has been lost, e.g. a setting is recreated from the digitally manipulated photograph of the original event. Finally, the forth order of simulation is the combined process of the first, second and third order to such an cessation that the object bears no relation to reality or the original, for example the photograph has become a vir tual reality.In this instance the link between reality and the signifying systems is almost inconceivable to ascertain, thus creating a hyper-reality. It is the use of one simulacra as a basis for the formation of another simulacra that shows the first signs of relevance to post modernity. Consequently, in post modernism, everything is understood in relation to everything that has come before, which in be after manifests itself in referencing. Post modernism is also concerned with the fact that there is no right or wrong and essentially that no real truth exists.It is of course possible for a sign to form a transition through all four of the orders of simulation, constantly abstracting meaning and widening the gap between simulation and reality. However due to the complexity of repeated abstraction and signification it becomes necessary for an amount of speculation and simplification to occur when examining transitional examples. If we take, for example, the now famous emblem of automotive company Rolls Royce, it becomes apparent the extent to which a symbolic object can be re-simulated, each time loosing a part of its original meaning. Spirit of Ecstasy, designed by sculptor Charles Sykes and mass produced in 1911, is a jog metal emblem representing the figurine of a girl with arms outstretched to hold the folds of her gown blowing in the breeze.To the present day this emblem has been displayed on the bonnets of Rolls Royce cars and is the first order of simulation in terms of it being a representation of a real person from which the sculpture has been modelled. The object also references the figure heads of pure sailing ships in an attempt to convey the automotive product as an elegant, quite and reliable vehicle, which were the mediated associations with the brand during the early development of the company. In this instance the object enters the third order of simulation as a real event (model posing for sculptor) is created from an existing symbolic object (sailing boat figure heads) in order to be recreated as a new symbolic object (Spirit of Ecstasy emblem).At this battery-acid it is important to note that this example as an investigation could examine many more stages of referencing prior to the signs use as figure heads, though this could prove too difficult and inaccurate, again reinforcing the existence of a hyper-reality.The afternoon tea pot, designed by Michael Graves in 1985 for Alessi, brings the symbol to its conclusion. The tea pot employs a plastic emblem of a bird that is attached to the spout of the kettle and creates a whistling entropy when the water is boiled. This creates a pun between the whistling of a kettle and the singing of bird alone more importantly, its similar visual appearance (i.e. the wings of the bird and the outstretched arms and gown of the girl) makes a reference of Rolls Royce cars.Because during the late 20th century the values associated with Rolls Royce set about matured to convey the brand as one of top class and status, so it are these value that are associated with Graves tea pot, supposed to the original associations that Rolls Royce was referencing from classic sailing ships. Therefore the product has clearly entered the forth order of simulation is it holds no relation to the original meaning that the original object as sign attempted to represent. Also, by referencing past signs, it can be described as a post modern object.Like Debord, Baudrillard hold that simulation was important to the survival of capitalism as it, through mediation, can control the level of consumption within society. Baudrillard used the term valorisation to describe the process through which symbolic objects attain value. An excellent example of valorisation is Pokemon cards, which are essentially printed illustrations on card and so their use value is very low. However, via mediation, Pokemon cards have been given a simulated symbolic value that has made them desirable and powe rful as a commodity.As well as design, Baudrillards theory of simulation and simulacra has also proved influential in film making, for example in The Matrix, directed by the Wachowski brothers. The Matrix is set in the hereafter at a time when the real world has been reduced to a desert waste land by a war between humanity and machines after the invention of artificial intelligence. Because the machines are dependent on solar power, the humans have caused the equivalent of a nuclear winter by barricade out sunlight. This has caused the machines to retaliate by imprisoning humans in gel filled pods so that energy can be extracted from them in the form of heat. In order to control the humans in this procedure a computer simulated world called the ground substance exists, that all of the imprisoned humans are connected to, upkeep their lives in what they believe is the late 20th century, oblivious to the fact that their real bodies are in stasis in the real world.The film therefor e acts as a metaphor for contemporary western cultures. Firstly the matrix is an existence of the fourth order of simulation in that it is a system of mere signs that are tout ensemble detached from reality, i.e. hyper-reality. Just as in contemporary cultures, the people who live in the matrix are unaware that they are controlled by a system through simulation. You are a slave, neo, like everyone else you were natural into bondage, born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch, a prison for your learning ability What is the matrix? Control. The matrix is a computer generated dream world built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this (he holds up a papal bull battery) (Morpheus talking to Neo, The Matrix).In addition the film suggests that the prisoners of the Matrix are also dependant upon it, to the extent that they pass on fight to protect it. Baudrillards idea of mediasation appears in the film when it is suggested that there was a mac hine spawning a whole race of machines (Morpheus talking to Neo, The Matrix), thus the social control of the machines (mediation of signs) increasingly exert themselves with every new generation. Interestingly The Matrix seems to offer a solution to simulation and social control by the system, which is one of enlightenment. Once Neo understands the systems and can see the signs (computer code) of the matrix for what they really are, then he can recognise to follow a different set of rules thus gaining control of his environment.As well as a theological basis on Baudrillard, The Matrix tends to convey the story via symbolic references and thus is post modern by nature. For example the follow the sporting rabbit scene employs a tattoo of a white rabbit, which is referenced from Alice in Wonderland in order to convey the uncertainty in discovering the truth of an alternate reality. In the same scene Neo also opens a copy Baudrillards Simulacra and Simulation in effect reinforcing lin ks to that element of the film.In conclusion, I have identified the main themes surrounding Baudrillards orders of simulacra and simulation, shown how they mention to modern and post modern design and have given contemporary examples of their use in product design and film making. I believe that such an discernment of simulation has served well to better understanding referencing in post modernity.ReferencesDebord, G., (1977) The Society of the Spectacle, Black & RedPoster, M., (1998) Jean Baudrillard Selected Writings, Polity PressTucker, R. C., (1978) The Marx Engels Reader fleck Edition, Norton & CompanyBibliographyHebdige, D., (1994) Hiding in the Light, Routledgehttp//www.geneseo.edu/bicket/panop/baudrillard.hthttp//www.artisanitorium.thehydden.com/nonfiction/film/matrix.htmhttp//www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/master_frame.html