resolving not to hang a print of warhol’s brillo soap pads box on my office wall
Abstract
This jeremiad is a critique of commodity aesthetics advocating resistance to the hegemony of the brandscape. The persona laments a consciousness cluttered by, and grieves an imagination colonized by, brands. The poem hints at consumers’ patriotic inability to conceive of alternatives to capitalism, and the seductive deception that invites buyers to regard brands merely as products, rather than occasions of cultural occultation or occlusion. The poem explores the yin-yang nature of such brand dialectics as positive and negative relationships, sacred and profane attributes, and authentic and inauthentic experience. Iconic brands are paragons of this (sub)conscious enculturation process of artful perception.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Art
Politics
and Modernism
American History and Culture
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Culture Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 335–335
- Publication date
- 27 February 2026
- Language
- EN