More thoughts on commodification

So where were we?

What we're talking about here is COMMODIFICATION, or reducing the value of an act or object to only its monetary value.

Historical, artistic values are ignored here.

There also develops a fetishistic quality - commodities sometimes take on a surreal level of importance. Like, say, logos and memorabilia.

The merchandising, the marketing comes BEFORE the act - its alters, shapes the act, or in our case, the sport.

Throw into this the SATURATION of sports through the technology of communication - they are extensions of our senses. We create them, they create us. What the heck do I mean by that?

Sports become a display of our ability to capture, refine, tweak, replay, and edit images. They become PASTICHE - combining in one work disparate styles and content from different eras. Distinctions between high art and the popular go away, the theory goes, all that's left is the MEDIATED content.

Do you agree?

How can sports maintain their integrity when they are endlessly manipulated by the media -

When we can change the camera angles?
When we argues about the glowing Fox puck?
When we can't imagine a telecast without the ball, strike, and score appearing in the upper part of our TV screens?
When we can't imagine life without the endless parade of statistics and scores DURING a game?

Food for thought - see you Tuesday. Remember to get caught up on your miniprojects!!!