()i§ne'Yland

126 Pages·2012·6.83 MB·English

()i§ne'Yland:
AN
AESTHETIC
OF
POSTMODERN
CONSUMER CULTURE,
HYPERREALITY
AND
SEMIOTIC CONTENT
IN THE
VISUAL ARTS
by
Christel Wolfaardt

submitted
in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for
the degree
Magister Artium (Fine Arts)
in the
Faculty of Arts
University of Pretoria
August 1996
©© UUnniivveerrssiittyy ooff PPrreettoorriiaa
FOREWORD ii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS iii
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE: Disneyland as model 7
for the manifestation of a Postmodern
consumer culture mentality in the visual
arts
1.1. Characteristics of a Postmodern consumer 7
culture in Disneyland
1. 1. 1. Global intimations of a mass aesthetic in 7
Disneyland
1.1.2. Watch out! Here comes the Information 14
Revolution in Disneyland: 'caveat emptor'
1.1.3. Nostalgia, myth, and spectacle in 22
Disneyland
1.2. The influence of Postmodern consumer 27
culture mentality on the visual arts
1.2.1. Disney and a popular aesthetic 27
1.2.2. Disneyland's aesthetic of animation 30
1.2.3. Infotainment Art: the importance of being 32
entertaining and informative
CHAPTER TWO: Disneyland as model for 42
the creation of a state of hyperreality:
'simulacra' and 'simulation' in the visual
arts
2.1. Hyperreality: 'simulacra' and 'simulation' in 42
Disneyland
2.1.1. Disneyland and the problem of 'more' 42
reality
2. 1.2. Simulation and body politics 50
2.2. The influence of a state of hyperreality: 54
'simulacra' and 'simulation' in the visual
arts
2.2.1. Hyperreality and the 'art of illusion' 54
2.2.2. Hyperrealify and deconstruction in the 57
visual arts
CHAPTER THREE: Disneyland as model for 60
the visualisation of semiotic content in the
visual arts
3.1. The essence of semiotic content in 60
Disneyland
3.1.1. Semiotics and images, images, images in 60
Disneyland
3.1.2. Icons, trademarks and brand names in 66
Disneyland: a look at Mickey Mouse
3.2. The manifestation of semiotic content in 75
the visual arts
3.2.1. The manifestation of an art of signs 75
CONCLUSION 85
BIBLIOGRAPHY 89
SUMMARY/OPSOMMING 116
The financial assistance of the Centre for
Science Development (HSRC, South Africa)
towards this research is hereby acknowledged.
Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at,
are those of the author and are not necessarily
to be attributed to the Centre for Science
Development.
ii
Figure 14: 'Untitled', 1993, Karen Klugman,
LI§T (),= ILLU§TI;?ATI{)~§ Photograph (in Klugman 1993:8).
Figure 1: 'Euro Disney Corporate Identity', 1992, Figure 15: 'Mosheshwe, Oom Paul, Rhino, and
Sussman & Prejza, Ink on Paper (in Jacobs Mona', 1995, Christel Wolfaardt, Multimedia
1992:71; Euro Disneyland Brochure, Maison du Montage on Found Book (Courtesy of the artist).
Tourisme, lie de France).
Figure 16: 'Hotel Santa Fe', 1992, Christel
Figure 2: 'Mickey Gets a Taste for TV', 1995, Wolfaardt, Photograph (Courtesy of the artist).
Anonymous, Ink on Paper (in Rankine 1995:6).
Figure 17: 'Map of Euro Disneyland', 1992, IBM,
Figure 3: Television: Give Me the Children Until Coloured Ink on Paper (in Euro Disneyland Guest
They are Seven and Anyone May Have Them Book 1992:1).
Afterwards', 1992, Deirdre Luzwick, Charcoal on
Paper (in Luzwick 1992:81). Figure 18: 'Treasure of Marco Polo', 1966, Carl
Barks, Ink on Paper (in Kunzle 1990: 163).
Figure 4: 'SCientists Say We're Just Simply
Spiralling Coils of Self-replicating DNA', 1983, Figure 19: 'A Spicy Tale', 1962, Carl Barks, Ink
Terry Gilliam, Ink on Paper (in Chapman et al on Paper (in Kunzle 1990:161).
1983:26-27).
Figure 20: 'While the Cat's Away', 1929, Walt
Figure 5: 'Parade: Mankind Cannot Bear Very Disney, Ink on Paper (in Care 1981 :77).
Much Reality, Says TS Eliot', 1992, Deirdre
Luzwick, Charcoal on Paper (in Luzwick 1992: Figure 21: 'Echoes', 1991, John Berg, Acrylic on
81). Paper (in Yoe & Morra-Yoe 1991:28).
Figure 6: 'Mickey Mouse Series', 1981, Andy Figure 22: 'Consumer Violence: First Panel',
Warhol, Silkscreen on Paper (in Yoe & Morra-Yoe 1995, Diane Victor, Charcoal and Pastel on
1991:115). Paper (in Van Rensburg 1995:31).
Figure 7: 'Carnival of the Harlequins', 1925, Joan Figure 23: Virus', 1993, Dennis Oppenheim,
Cast Fibreglass and Bronze (in Cemba/est
Miro, Oil on Canvas (in Eggener 1993:38).
1993:35).
Figure 8: 'Its a Small, Small World: Red Nose
Figure 24: 'Mickey Mouse at the Front', 1992,
Day Party', 1994, Tommy Motswai, Mixed Media
John Keane, Oil on Canvas (in Lee 1992:161).
on Paper (Courtesy of the Natalie Knight Gallery).
Figure 25: 'Surprise Party at Memory Pond',
Figure 9: 'Disney Toys and Reflections', 1988,
1989, Carl Barks, 80-colour Serigraph on Paper
Cesar Santander, Acrylic on Canvas (in Watts
(Courtesy of Disney Art Editions, Walt Disney
1991:47).
Studios).
Figure 10: 'Postcard from Piet to Carel with
Figure 26: 'Mickey Mouse', 1988, Rob Birza, Egg
Dwarfs from Disney's Snow White', 1938, Piet
Tempera on Cotton (in Van Nieuwenhuyzen
Mondrian, Mixed Media on Paper (in Hoek
1988:143).
1989:140).
Figure 27: 'Deep Time, Space Time', 1990, Mark
Figure 11: 'Donald Duck Descending a
Dion, Desk, Mickey Mouse Doll, and Objects (in
Staircase', 1979, Peter Saul, Acrylic on Canvas
Zahm 1990:164).
(in Storr 1985:96).
Figure 12: '9 December -3 December 1987: MM
as MM', 1987, Mark Lancaster, Oil on Canvas (in
Crowther 1991 :68).
Figure 13: 'Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger
Rabbir?', 1991, The Walt Disney Company, Cel
Animation (in Thomas 1991:109).
iii
I ntr()duc:tl()n
Disneyland is everywhere. Institute's Guide to College Courses in Film and
Television reveals that more than 60 major American
The Walt Disney Corporation's agenda of colleges feature animation workshops in their
internationalisation, coinciding with the opening of curriculum (Canemaker 1980:52). Willis (1993:1)
Euro Disney in Marne-la-Vallee, France, in 1992, has believes that the 'floodgate of Disney criticism is about
clearly positioned the Disneyland phenomenon within to open'.
the mind of Postmodern spectator-consumers. If one
takes into account the proliferation of articles The recent announcement (coinciding with a personal
concerning Disneyland, in contemporary critical visit) by Walt Disney World representative Bob
scholarship, one can see that it stands at the forefront Ziegler that South Africa is being considered for
of growing, global demand for a new aesthetic. inclusion in EPCOT's World Showcase1 brings the
entire Disneyland phenomenon to rest at our
This study will turn a critical spotlight on the doorstep. An inquiry into the overall effects of such a
Disneyland phenomenon in order to ascertain the root global entertainment campaign, thus becomes all the
of its existence, and further to document its precise more justified within global Post-Apartheid South
meaning and influence upon the visual arts and its Africa.
audience in the Postmodern world. The
acknowledgement of the lack of serious criticism This study is aimed at analysing the varied mass of
regarding Disneyland (Willis 1993: 1; Tannenbaum information that has dealt with Disneyland to date.
1983:299) further necessitates an inquiry of this kind, The extraction of issues particularly relevant to current
since important debates initiated at the Frankfurt and cultural debate, will form an integral part of this
the Birmingham schools have demonstrated the inquiry. This study aims to come to a critical
centrality of such cultural studies for the development awareness and synthesis of both the cultural and
of art historical theory. aesthetic implications of the Disneyland phenomenon.
Previous studies on Disneyland include an inquiry into The current view that Disney has become an object of
the sociomythic character of Disneyland entertainment study at a moment dominated by Postmodern
as a response to the audience's collective values and discourse, creates the obligation not to force a
beliefs, a reflection on general American culture, and Postmodern inquiry, but to highlight existing trends
an examination of Disney via the psychoanalytic and essences within Disneyland with regard to
approach, all conducted in the Department of Postmodern debate. In this regard Tannenbaum
American Studies at the University of Michigan (Keller (1983:299) notes the excitement of exploring the new
1983:285; Berland 1982). Art historian Barbara medium of Disneyland via the combination of
Tannenbaum (1983:299) pinpoints the initial attempt traditional methodological approaches, as well as new
at a theoretical approach towards animation as art
historian Marie Therese Poncet's L'esthetique du 1 EPCOT's World Showcase is situated at Walt Disney
World in Orlando, Florida. It consists of 11 national pavilions ringing
Dessin Anime (1952) which employed a philosophical
a lagoon. It is a clever pastiche of indigenous landmarks, shops,
restaurants and theatres where films of each particular country are
and abstract orientation. The American Film
shown.
1
ones, in order to cope with the mixture of codex of blockbuster and classic moving pictures
technological, sociological, economic, and cultural translated into 14 languages around the world
influences that have shaped a nascent formal and distributed by Miramax Films and Buena Vista
iconographic tradition. In a similar vein, Postmodern Pictures, and an alliance with highbrow studio
architect Charles Eames (in Jacobs 1992:71) concurs Merchant-Ivory Productions; television and home
with the inclusion of the popular by stating that one video on The Disney Channel; a host of characters
can tell more about a culture from its 'bread and soup' such as Mickey Mouse (marketed since 1928),
than from its 'museums and masterpieces'. educational material and Broadway productions such
as Beauty and the Beast; and popular television
This study will therefore explore the ways in which series such as The Golden Girls and Home
prominent and popular thinkers, philosophers, critics, Improvement (Aliens 1993; Jodidio 1992:1-7; Meyer,
and artists regard Disneyland as a model for an Fleming & McGuire 1994:33; Van Tassel 1990:38;
aesthetic in contemporary visual arts. Reed 1990:71).
'Disneyland' indicates the 'multi-million-dollar The proverbial 'Disney magic' also implies the broader
entertainment-industry' which was dreamed into reality manifestation of theme park entertainment. In
in 1942 by Walter Elias Disney (1901-1966) and was America alone the following Theme and Amusement
expanded and remarketed since 1986 as a 'mega Park Resort complexes are in operation: Cedar
entertainment-empire' by businessman Michael Point's Raptor Attraction, Hershey Park, Cypress
Eisner (1942-) and his Walt Disney Company. Gardens, King's Island, Fiesta Texas, Knott's Berry
Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Great
Disneyland includes the individual theme parks (with America, Six Flags Over Mid-America, Six Flags Over
hotels and resort facilities) situated respectively in Texas, Six Flags Over Georgia, Caro winds , Smurf
Anaheim, California (opened in 1955 and christened Island, Busch Gardens' Old Country, Busch Gardens'
Disneyland); Orlando, Florida (1971, Walt Disney exotic Dark Continent, Hanna Barbera's Kings
World plus EPCOT Centre, Fort Wilderness Dominion, Nashville's Opryland, Astroworld Houston
Campground, Typhoon Lagoon, Pleasure Island, Texas, Universal Studios Hollywood, The Luxor
Disney Village Marketplace and Disney'-MGM Theme Park Casino Hotel, Steve Wynn's Treasure
Studios); Tokyo, Japan (1983, Tokyo Disneyland), Island Hotel Complex, and the MGM Grand Casino
and Marne-la-Vallee, France (1992, Euro Disney); Hotel (Birnbaum 1994; Norman 1990; Wiley 1994;
Disney MGM Studios; 335 retail stores in America, Fenster 1994; Andersen 1994).
Canada, Britain, Germany, Japan and France; Jim
Henson's The Muppets which was acquired for $100 Russia's best-known sculptor and architect, Tsereteli,
million after Henson's death in 1990; Disney Premier is planning a 927 -acre version of Disneyland, called
Cruise Lines which will set sail in 1997; The Walt Wonder Park, seven miles from the Kremlin
Disney Gallery in Santa Ana, California, with its (Carpenter 1994). In Southern Africa there has been
limited edition art, adult fashions and themed a growth of entertainment parks and centres during
household goods; Disney's Christmas on Ice the past two decades. These include for example
Escapades in collaboration with impresario Kenneth Gold Reef City, The Lost City at Sun City (whose
Feld; a hockey team named The Mighty Ducks; a creator, Sol Kerzner (in Ainsworth Sharp 1993:37),
2
has admitted to an entertainment agenda), The critics regard Disneyland as a reflection of a
Carousel Entertainment Centre, The Wild Coast Sun Postmodem consumer culture mentality. Secondly,
and Entertainment Complex, The Swakopmund Hotel Disneyland is seen as a model for the creation of a
and Entertainment Centre, etcetera; not to mention state of hyperreality, encompassing also 'simulation'
the growing interest in and popularity of intemational or 'simulacra', and thirdly Disneyland is seen as a
fairs such as The Rand Show, or the rise of shopping model for the manifestation of semiotic content,
complexes all over South Africa such as The Wheel meaning or communication. An explanation of these
(Durban), The Workshop (Durban), Tygerval/ey foci will follow, in order for their relevance within this
Centre (complete with imitation steamer and 'fantasy' inquiry to be fully illustrated.
restaurants), The Pavillion (Durban), The Waterfront
(Cape Town and Randburg), etcetera. Postmodern Consumer Culture
In America numerous architects, developers, and Firstly, Disneyland touches upon the essences of
planners have incorporated Disneyland techniques Postmodern consumer culture mentality. Although
into their designs for suburban shopping malls, inner Disneyland projected the image of 'honkey-tonk
city festival marketplaces, revitalized small town main crasness-and-phoniness' as well as 'middle-class
streets, new satellite residential neighbourhoods, and mentality' for a number of years within the
entire cities such as Seaside in Florida (Warren entertainment industry, it was discovered as a rich
1994:96). field of inquiry by architect Charles Eames. Eames (in
Finch 1983:425,426) interprets Disneyland as a
For the purposes of this study the term 'Disneyland' convincing experiment in urban psychology. He is
will be used in order to refer to the magnitude of also of the opinion that it is exclusively in Disneyland
entertainment phenomena that hold sway within global that mass society or popular culture can congregate
Postmodem culture. with courtesy and pleasure.
But what is it that makes Disneyland so interesting Eames (in Finch 1983:388) further suggests that Walt
and attractive to prominent cultural critics and Disney succeeded in reaching mass culture through
philosophers as to elicit not one, but several a solid knowledge of advertising and promotion skills,
responses? as well as through a well-planned presentation of
archetypal imagination which appealed to the post-war
Without attempting to provide a comprehensive spectator-consumer.
overview of Disneyland as phenomenon, I have
instead organized this study around three main areas Postmodem critic Frederic Jameson (in Kaplan
of criticism, or focr, which appear in contemporary 1988:28) characterises this Postmodem, post-war
critiques on Disneyland. It is hoped that a close consumer culture as that culture which comprises the
analysis thereof will reveal more clearly the particular following functioning characteristics: post-industrial
cultural meaning and function of Disneyland. Firstly, multinational capitalism; new modes of consumerism;
planned obsolescence; rapidly changing fashion;
omnipresent advertising; television and mass media
2Previous undergraduate research for the BA(FA) such as radio, televiSion, video, newspaper,
degree, completed during 1994, revealed three specific areas of
critique within the media concerning Disneyland.
3
magazine, film, book, record or tape, as vehicles for distinction between 'highbrow' and 'lowbrow' art,
the transmission of information and entertainment; an proclaimed film as the important art of the twentieth
exchange of the old tension between urban and rural century, and argued that the music of The Beat/es
areas by the new dichotomy of the suburb; universal and The Rolling Stones was as important as that of
standardisation; the manifestation of networks or Austrian-American composer SchOnberg (1874-1951)
superhighways3 of information distribution, as well as for its evocation of popular responses (Bullock &
the rise of a 'brand-conscious-automobile-culture'. Stallybrass 1988:506).
The implications of the 'Information Superhighway' are
that systems of wires and cables, software Cultural critic Robert Atkins (1990:131) on the other
applications, operating systems, protocols, on-line hand, in order to explain the state of art and culture,
services, interactive television, and video on demand clarifies Postmodemism as that movement which has
are created by the private sector (that is the arisen within art criticism since the 1970s. Avant
entertainment industry as well as computer and garde artist Mark Kostabi and Postmodem theorist
software companies). These will have an enormous Charles Jencks, documented the exact birth of the
impact on global business, education, and expression 'Postmodemism' as taking place at
entertainment (Otte 1994:6). 3.33pm, on 15 July 1972 (Polan 1988:45).
Chambers (1986) explains popular culture in terms of Atkins (1990:131) further notes that Postmodemism
the changes that it is experiencing, such as: industrial as a movement has brought about a shift in thought
capitalism, growing literacy, impact of the print media, which has moved beyond the boundaries of
secularization, and partiCipatory politics. The concept Modemism. Robert Venturi (in Polan 1988:45), the
'mass culture' is identified with those products proclaimer of Postmodem architecture, also shares in
produced primarily for entertainment rather than for this opinion by stating that the Modemist belief in
intrinsic worth, and with artifacts to be sold and items technology and human achievement currently has to
created by mechanical reproduction such as the make way for the 'spectacles' of mass culture.
printing press, gramophone records, and art
illustrations. The mass culture debate goes back to This study will launch an inquiry into the
Romantic poet Wordsworth (1770-1850) and was characteristics of Postmodem consumer culture with
revived in the 1950s with the spread of affluence and special reference to Disneyland, its global target
the fear that advertising was shaping cultural tastes market and its visual preferences. An inquiry of this
(Bullock & Stallybrass 1988:506). During the 1960s nature is seen as totally relevant and necessary by art
the debate took a different tum with the rise of Pop historian Marcia Pointon (1983).
Art. A group of critics associated with the American
magazine, Partisan Review (including liberalists In this regard the following will be examined in chapter
Susan Sontag and Richard Poirier), became one: the global manifestation of a mass aesthetic; the
advocates of the new sensibility which denied the influence of the Information Revolution on
Postmodem consumer culture; the tendency towards
3The phrase 'Information Superhighway' was coined by nostalgia, myth, and spectacle in Postmodem culture;
AI Gore, Vice-President of America, in 1988 to help raise
awareness and support from the public and private sectors. It was the influence of Disney on popular art; as well as the
initially called National Information Infrastructure or High
Performance Computing (Otte 1994:6). aesthetic of animation, and infotainment.
4
Hyperreality: 'simulation' and 'simulacra' Experiments at NASA, as early as 1910. The
generalization of the idea of simulation came with Ivan
Secondly, concerning hyperreality: Disneyland is not Sutherland's 1968 academic paper, A Head-mounted
just a mass culture theme park par excellence. Three-dimensional Display. Communications expert
Several critics, specifically Italian novelist and Michael de Certeau (in Blonsky 1985:154) explains
philosopher Umberto Eco, who propagated the the contemporary simulacrum as the last meeting
concept of hyperreality in Disneyland, American critic place of the spectator-consumer's belief in what is
Kate Linker, French semiologist Jean Baudrillard as seen. In this regard it is postulated that the spectator
well as the author of an illuminating work on the consumer 'trusts' that that which is seen, constitutes
simulated Postmodern world, Benjamin Woolley reality (Blonsky 1985:154).
(1992), defensively reiterate the stance that
Disneyland is the quintessential model for current According to art historian Rosalind Krauss (1986:38-
debate surrounding the notions of simulation in the 39) the simulacrum is the:
Postmodern world.
Postmodernist notion of the
Simulation demands that Postmodern society be ruled originalist play of the signifier
externally by messages, signs, and images which are and those investigations of
continuously fed into that society's' mass media. the representational system
Within this magnitude of spectacles, the 'spectator of absence.
consumer' is left to continually construct, reconstruct,
and adjust the image of reality. Consumer culture is The simulacrum, in other words, is that space which
obsessed with the interweaving of mass imagery is seen and 'believed' by the spectator-consumer
which infiltrates the television screen, multimedia (Blonsky 1985:154). It represents that relationship
computer programs, the Internet, films, videos, and between what is seen and what is believed to be
the printed media. And nowhere more so than in reality (Blonsky 1985:154).
Disneyland. According to Baudrillard (in Smagula
1991:7-18), Disneyland is committed to a definitive In this connection the following will be examined in
play on illusions via the creation of an imaginary chapter two: Baudrillard and Eco's interpretation of
environment in its theme parks. This imaginary Disneyland as the basic model for the creation of a
environment constitutes certain thought processes or state of hyperreality; the notion that the representation
'simulacra' which in turn control the world of of reality encompasses messages which influence the
negotiable culture or the proverbial 'consumers' spectator-consumer's perception of reality, as well as
utopia' (Smagula 1991 :8). the conception of the 'credibleness' of that 'reality'
(Perloff 1988:250); and the manifestation of a state of
The concept simulation is defined as an indication of hyperreality in Disneyland and the visual arts in the
the way in which the imaginary, illusory or fictitious form of simulation, body politics, illusion, semiurgy,
has replaced the real, actual or true as a proponent and deconstruction.
of the believable in the Postmodern era (Smagula
1991 :8). Woolley (1992:53) pinpoints the notion of Baudrillard's (1984:253-283) vision of the process of
simulation as originating in Flight Simulator simulation as part of a detailed communication theory
5
concerned with the juxtaposition of historical images, (Smagula 1991 :9-11). Images function as aesthetic
brings us to the third focus on Disneyland, namely symbols in society within the framework of the
that of semiotic content. communication process of simulation (Blonsky
1985:154).
Semiotic content
Art historian Sebeok (in Blonsky 1985:451) defines
Contemporary concerns with mass society, the Semiotics as a branch of the science of
commodification of leisure, identity, etcetera, under communication. Since its advent in the 1930s the
consumer capitalism have led to an erosion of the field of Semiotics has been concerned with the 'life of
distinction between elite and popular culture, and now signs' in society (Blonsky 1985:451). Semiotics gives
cultural Semiotics deconstructs all representations insightful explanations into the grammatical or
and signs to expose their uniform ideological linguistic character of contemporary Postmodern
significance (Chambers 1986). thought. It is a science of signs, representational and
communication systems such as advertising,
Baudrillard's argument is that the spectator language, food, objects, clothing, jazz, and imagery
consumer's frame of reference can only consist of (Starn, Burgoyne & Flitterman-Lewis 1992: 1-5).
images or signs which are Platonically interpreted
(Perloff 1988:10-13). The philosopher Plato of Athens In this connection the following will be examined in
(c.428 - c.348 BC) remarked in his Meno, that the chapter three: Eco's vision of Disneyland as a 'Las
human subject is endowed with certain amounts of Vegas-type' message city complete with a subtext of
unconscious knowledge which can assist in the daily meaningful imagery; the manifestation of icons,
confrontation with the environment (Flew 1979:271). trademarks and brand names with special reference
Plato's Theory of Ideas postulates that it is the shape to the image of Disneyland's major protagonist Mickey
of things that determine their real or true identities Mouse as an icon with semiotic meaning, as well as
(Flew 1979:271). In this regard, the spectator lastly, the manifestation of an art of signs.
consumer recalls an angular shape with three sides
as triangular, only because that particular shape This study has as its prime goal the syntheSis of the
coincides with the requirements for 'ideal' triangularity current information and writings on Disneyland with
(Flew 1979:271). regard to the three proposed foci. It will strive to lead
to a deeper understanding of Disneyland as cultural
This process of image interpretation forms part of the phenomenon at the end of the twentieth century and
study of Semiotics. Images refer to certain its resultant influence on a Postmodern visual
predetermined meanings in the mind of the spectator aesthetic. As this study is the first of its kind in extent
consumer. An image indicates any depiction, and interest, a further aim will be to provide a detailed
portrayal or representation of an object or an idea and up-tO-date bibliography on Disneyland in order to
which in turn represents a certain historical content stimulate further debate.
6