MURKETING

Sneakertrash

Usually when I’m thinking/writing about consumption, I’m essentially focused on the moment people buy something. I don’t think I’m alone in this: consuming and buying sound like the same thing.

But of course you could also argue that the purchase moment is actually just the beginning. The process of consuming something doesn’t end until it’s gone (in the case of, say, a beverage) or thrown out, or dissolved, or whatever. And we all know it’s pretty common to feel much differently about a given object at the end of this process than at the beginning.

For a long time I’ve had this on my list of “themes to address some day,” but lately I’ve been thinking about it a lot, because we’ve been in the process of getting rid of a lot of stuff. For instance, the sneakers above — one of two pairs I just threw away. Pondering the conclusion of my personal history with these consumable objects has given me a reason to act on a months-old invitation to join an online “sneaker community,” called Sneakerplay.

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Lightly self-promotional Flickr Interlude

El Dorado MLKFlickr photo by crfranko.

One pleasing surprise that awaited me as I eased back into the habits that go with having an actual working computer was discovering this nice notice on UrbanCommons.org about another one of my little side projects, the MLK BLVD Flickr pool. And so I say: Thanks!

Of course, if you visit Murketing.com often, you’ve probably already figured out that I spend too much time looking at stuff on Flickr. But another pleasing surprise was finding some pictures added to the MLK BLVD pool by a certain crfranko — shots of the MLK in El Dorado, Arkansas. El Dorado? I know who you are, crfranko! Thanks, bro …

Failure, Excuses, Etc.

So, about a week ago, the hard drive on my main computer began to fail. This was unpleasant. While it was interesting, in a way, to spend a lot of time waiting around at TekServe observing other people whose various pieces of digital technology had melted down in one catastrophic way or another, I’d prefer not to have done it. Anyway, while all that was going on, it wasn’t really practical for me to deal with Murketing.com.

Yesterday I got my computer back, with a new hard drive, and it looks like I’ve more or less completed the process of re-integrating many gigs of backed up data. I’m a little behind on email, and I may have lost a few messages, if you happen to be wondering why I haven’t replied to something you’ve sent me, etc. Feel free to re-send if you like. Meanwhile I’m returning this site to regularly scheduled programming now; in a minute I’ll post last week’s consumed.

Go back up your data.

Flickr Interlude

Product Placement

Originally uploaded by R. Walker.

The book on “Obey”

Just out: Supply and Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey. Sample page images here.

Mr. Shepard Fairey will be signing copies at MOCA in LA, on Saturday. He says:

“This book is 350 pages, large format (9″x12”) with a foil embossed cover. More than looking spiffy from the outside, it is mega-juicy on the inside. There are tons of images that have never been published as well as essays and interviews by Steven Heller, Carlo McCormick, Roger Gastman, Rob Walker, Helen Stickler, and me [Shepard Fairey]. This is the definitive case study, art book, bible of Obey Giant. I hope you dig it. All copies from the site are signed.”