Have not been able to shake off my sense of dramatics-
Guy Debord, leader of the Situationists International, warned of the 'Spectre of the Spectacle'- where one work of art inspires its own set of reproductions and is copied over and over again, further distancing us from the real experience.
Showflats, a space where 'apartment living' or quite often, 'aspirational living' is re-created, have de-generated into copies of one another. It's the same, frozen look with fake books lining the shelves, plush furry upholstery decidedly unsuitable for our tropical climates, lots of leather, plenty of mirrors working around the dictum of mirrors=illusion of more space, ambient lighting and a set temperature conducive to the showflat-shopping process.
At the other extreme, I've seen showflats that try to break away from the mould by having dangerously curvy staircases- helmed by rough ropes- to the second floor, unwieldy pieces of art in the centre of what is an ultimately small space and a minimum of plush toys(cushions/tiny roll blankets/roll pillows).
My objections with showflats, beyond that unrealistic re-creation of what 'living' is supposed to be like, is their increasing like-ness to each other. It's become a polished, professional way of engendering more sales, along with bland brochures, silly tv ads of happy families engaged in some activity convenient to the development.
If we're going to pariticipate in a system where experiences are mediated by images, could they at least not be tiresome copies of one another?
UrbaneSpaces is a boutique real estate agency specialising in well designed, architecturally distinguished properties. Some of the properties that we have dealt with- modern lofts, apartments, chic pied-a-terres, the conservation shophouse or the colonial black and white- can be found on our website at:
www.urbanespaces.com |
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