Week  05:  Riding  the  Zeitgeist

Johann  Go(ried  von  Herder  (1744-­‐1803)

Defini3on  of  “Zeitgeist”

The  spirit,  a=tude,or  general  outlookof  a  specific  3me

or  period:

the  spirit  of  the  age.

Capturing  the  “Zeitgeist”

Richard  Hamilton’s  1956  collage  “Just  What  Is  It  That  Makes  Today’s  HomesSo  Different,  So  Appealing?”  summed  up  the  zeitgeist  of  1950s  Britain  inone  image.  It  also  inspired  “Pop  Art”.

Capturing  the  “Zeitgeist”

The  exhibiZon  “This  Is  Tomorrow”  at  the  Whitechapel  Gallery  in  1956summed  up  a  1950s  vision  of  the  future.  It  is  frequently  referenced  as  aturning  point  in  BriZsh  art.

Capturing  the  “Zeitgeist”

In  1993  he  produced  a  digital  version:  “Just  What  Is  It  That  Makes  Today’s  HomesSo  Different?”,  replacing  the  50s  elements  with  their  90s  equivalents

The  “Zeitgeist”  is  the  visible  manifesta3on  ofsomething  intangible

Just  as  most  of  an  iceberg  lurks  under  the  surface,  so  the  zeitgeist  is  a  visible  wayof  understanding  something  that  is  largely  invisible.  A  ‘Zeit-­‐berg’?

GoGried  von  Herder’s  defini3on  of  “Zeitgeist”

"the sum of the thoughts, attitudes, strivings, drives,and life-forces, expressing themselves within anycauses and effects in a definite course of events"

Success  or  failure  in  terms  of  “Zeitgeist”

MarZn  Luther  was  part  of  a  greater  Zeitgeist  and  succeeded  withthe  ReformaZon,  whereas  Emperor  Joseph  II  of  Austria  failedbecause  the  Zeigeist  was  against  him

Contemporary  revolu3ons  and  the  spirit  of  the  age

Tahrir  Square  in  Cairo,  January  2011;  and  Syrians  protesZng  in  Feb  ‘12

Regimes  that  mis-­‐read  the  spirit  of  the  age

Muammar  Gaddafi…  and  Bashar  al-­‐Assad?

Some  poli3cians  grasp  the  spirit  of  the  age

Tony  Blair  and  Gordon  Brown’s  historic  meeZng  at  Granita  restaurantdetermined  who  would  be  Prime  Minister  and  Chancellor.

Mark  Zuckerberg  and  the  Facebook  IPO

Facebook  is  being  floated  for  around  $75-­‐100  billion  dollars

The  Zeitgeist  leR  MySpace  behind…News  InternaZonal  invested  heavily  in  a  declining  social  media  plakorm

Controversial  aspects  of  Facebook

Erosion  of  privacy  and  the  commercial  exploitaZon  of  user  data

Reputa3on  maTers  in  cyberspaceMicrosol  exploit  the  Google  privacy  issue

Jeff  Bezos  of  Amazon  with  the  KindleMoving  from  printed  books  to  digital  at  the  right  Zme

Back  from  the  dead?The  zeitgeist  of  the  economic  crisis  favours  Marx  once  again

Back  from  the  dead?And  in  Hungary,  the  ghosts  of  a  former  age  are  sZrring  once  more