Modern Myths: Super Reality
Проект Super Reality - это интуитивное исследование современной мифологии. Мифы существуют в любом обществе, как неотъемлемая часть жизни человека. Неподтвержденные научными или историческими фактами, они тем не менее помогают нам объяснить и почувствовать мир. Ролан Барт называл миф формой коммуникации, трансформирующей значение в форму. Легко различимые в прошлом, мифы современности не лежат на поверхности, увидеть их помогает язык. Приставка СУПЕР обозначает превосходство; добавленная к простому понятию, она поднимает его на новый уровень: модель становится супермоделью, рынок - супермаркетом, машина - суперкаром. Супергерои, суперкары, супермодели, супермаркет и суперзвезды, собранные вместе, создают параллельную реальность - Супер Реальность, своего рода Олимп нашего времени. Заманчивый и иллюзорный он обещает больше, чем может дать. Счастье, признание, обладание, успех - не проходите мимо, два по цене одного!
The project is a study of Modern Myths: Super Reality.
Myths are the stories we tell about the world in order to understand it. They exist in all societies of the present as well as the past as an essential part of human life. However mythical truth is not literal, historic or scientific; myth is a form of communication, it “transform meaning into form”*.
The prefix super indicates object, which is superior in size, quality, number, degree, status, title or position and definitely above average.
The project makes a step towards decoding contemporary myths, it explores how SuperMan, SuperMarket, SuperModel, SuperCar, SuperPower, SuperStar, SuperNature taken together create a parallel reality - Super Reality - that originates from human imagination but affects real life as well.
* R.Barthes Mythologies, 1957
SuperPower
A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international system and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power.
It was a term first applied in 1944 to the United States, the Soviet Union, and the British Empire. Following World War II, as the British Empire transformed itself into the Commonwealth and its territories became independent, the Soviet Union and the United States generally came to be regarded as the only two superpowers, and confronted each other in the Cold War.
SuperHero
A superhero is a fictional character of unprecedented physical powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes-ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas-have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other media.
By most definitions, characters need actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although terms such as costumed crimefighters are sometimes used to refer to those without such powers who share other common traits with superheroes.
SuperCar
Supercar is a term generally used for high-end sports cars, whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine, and stated in more general terms: it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match, it should be sleek and eye-catching and its price should be one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own, but the correct usage of the term is both subjective and disputed, especially amongst enthusiasts.
The use of the term can be dependent on the era; a vehicle that may have been considered a supercar
in one decade may not be considered the same in another. The term supercar may refer to factory-built, street-legal race cars. Some vehicles referred to as supercars include features required for race cars such as roll cages. In recent years, the term supercar has been defined more specifically as any car that can attain at least 200 mph (320 km/h) and maintain reasonable control. High price only defines a car as an exotic, not necessarily a supercar.
SuperStar
Superstar is a term used to refer to a celebrity who has great popular appeal and is widely-known, prominent or successful in some field. Celebrities referred to as superstars may include individuals who work as actors, actresses, musicians, athletes, and other professions.
The term superstar is a subjective assessment, and there is no empirical criteria for applying the term.
According to Roger Caillois, superstars are created by the interplay between “mass media, free enterprise, and competition.” Superstars are produced by a mixture of effort by the actors or athletes and chance (the luck of winning, due to the many arbitrary factors influencing sports, film releases, etc.).
SuperMarket
Supermarkets usually offer products at low prices by reducing their economic margins. To maintain a profit, they attempt to make up for the lower margins by a higher overall volume of sales, and to further reduce labor costs by shifting to self-service check-out machines.
Supermarkets in general are often criticized because they tend to narrow the choices of fruits and vegetables by stocking only varieties with long storage lives, thus leading to medium-term extinction of the cultivation of other varieties. In Britain supermarkets have been accused of squeezing prices to farmers, forcing small shops out of business, and often favouring imports over British produce. In the United States, major-brand supermarkets often demand slotting fees from suppliers in exchange for premium shelf space and/or better positioning (such as at eye-level, on the checkout aisle or at a shelf’s “end cap”).
* Все факты из Википедии
© Arina Orlova, 2009
The project is a study of Modern Myths: Super Reality.
Myths are the stories we tell about the world in order to understand it. They exist in all societies of the present as well as the past as an essential part of human life. However mythical truth is not literal, historic or scientific; myth is a form of communication, it “transform meaning into form”*.
The prefix super indicates object, which is superior in size, quality, number, degree, status, title or position and definitely above average.
The project makes a step towards decoding contemporary myths, it explores how SuperMan, SuperMarket, SuperModel, SuperCar, SuperPower, SuperStar, SuperNature taken together create a parallel reality - Super Reality - that originates from human imagination but affects real life as well.
* R.Barthes Mythologies, 1957
SuperPower
A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international system and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power.
It was a term first applied in 1944 to the United States, the Soviet Union, and the British Empire. Following World War II, as the British Empire transformed itself into the Commonwealth and its territories became independent, the Soviet Union and the United States generally came to be regarded as the only two superpowers, and confronted each other in the Cold War.
SuperHero
A superhero is a fictional character of unprecedented physical powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes-ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas-have dominated American comic books and crossed over into other media.
By most definitions, characters need actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although terms such as costumed crimefighters are sometimes used to refer to those without such powers who share other common traits with superheroes.
SuperCar
Supercar is a term generally used for high-end sports cars, whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine, and stated in more general terms: it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match, it should be sleek and eye-catching and its price should be one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own, but the correct usage of the term is both subjective and disputed, especially amongst enthusiasts.
The use of the term can be dependent on the era; a vehicle that may have been considered a supercar
in one decade may not be considered the same in another. The term supercar may refer to factory-built, street-legal race cars. Some vehicles referred to as supercars include features required for race cars such as roll cages. In recent years, the term supercar has been defined more specifically as any car that can attain at least 200 mph (320 km/h) and maintain reasonable control. High price only defines a car as an exotic, not necessarily a supercar.
SuperStar
Superstar is a term used to refer to a celebrity who has great popular appeal and is widely-known, prominent or successful in some field. Celebrities referred to as superstars may include individuals who work as actors, actresses, musicians, athletes, and other professions.
The term superstar is a subjective assessment, and there is no empirical criteria for applying the term.
According to Roger Caillois, superstars are created by the interplay between “mass media, free enterprise, and competition.” Superstars are produced by a mixture of effort by the actors or athletes and chance (the luck of winning, due to the many arbitrary factors influencing sports, film releases, etc.).
SuperMarket
Supermarkets usually offer products at low prices by reducing their economic margins. To maintain a profit, they attempt to make up for the lower margins by a higher overall volume of sales, and to further reduce labor costs by shifting to self-service check-out machines.
Supermarkets in general are often criticized because they tend to narrow the choices of fruits and vegetables by stocking only varieties with long storage lives, thus leading to medium-term extinction of the cultivation of other varieties. In Britain supermarkets have been accused of squeezing prices to farmers, forcing small shops out of business, and often favouring imports over British produce. In the United States, major-brand supermarkets often demand slotting fees from suppliers in exchange for premium shelf space and/or better positioning (such as at eye-level, on the checkout aisle or at a shelf’s “end cap”).
* Все факты из Википедии
© Arina Orlova, 2009