the search for authenticity
And here’s what’s really sad: Many, many people in this world are terrified of real connection that unfolds in real time. This means that anything that makes you seem real will set them on edge. They would prefer a painted backdrop, where they can mouth the same lines and get the same predictable responses from everyone they meet. They don’t even... See more
The surge in searches for “real” reveals a deep tension in our collective psyche — a desire to pierce through the artificial, filtered, performative and algorithmic veil and to witness something fundamentally raw, human and intimate.
The paradox is that we seek authenticity through the very mechanisms of mediation (screens), which drive us to crave... See more
The paradox is that we seek authenticity through the very mechanisms of mediation (screens), which drive us to crave... See more
This gives us a pretty good idea of what authenticity means, or at least what it meant: something special, something unique, something priceless, not a commodity, not touched by money.
subpixel space • After Authenticity
origins of authenticity
If we no longer see brands and commodity capitalism as something to be resisted, we need more nuanced forms of critique that address how brands participate in society as creators and collaborators with real agency. Interest in working with brands, creating brands, and being brands is at an all-time high. Brands and commodities therefore need to be... See more
subpixel space • After Authenticity
origins of authenticity
It turns out that the aesthetics of authenticity-less culture are less about acting basic and more about playing up the genericness of the commodity as an aesthetic category.
Toby Shorin • After Authenticity
post-authenticity
What we are witnessing is the disappearance of authenticity as a cultural need altogether.
subpixel space • After Authenticity
post-authenticity
Interviews are much more interesting in longer formats where you get a better sense of the person. I think people have a sense of what feels genuine and the more we experience that (or a semblance of it) the more the canned laugh and prepared question feels uncanny.
If authenticity culture was being eroded—by the paradox of its own scale, by internet cultures built on togetherness, by memes and Likes and whole way the internet turns attention into shared value—then it may be the case that the deeper moral source may also be undergoing a paradigmatic transformation. If people could unironically like brands now,... See more
Toby Shorin • Life After Lifestyle
A paper I often return to is Authenticity as Authentication by Alan Moore (2002). I first came across it while writing my thesis on visual authenticity in marketing campaigns. Moore makes a subtle yet insightful observation: we tend to equate authenticity with unmediated experiences. Though he focuses on music, I found his ideas applicable to the... See more
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codes of ‘authenticity’ now flattened into formulas