Lawncare season is in full bloom, if the television is any indication. More and more, I’ve been noticing advertisements for riding mowers, hedge trimmers, and all sorts of products targeting the green thumb. But one popular subgenre of these gardening ads have been employing the medium in a way that is undeniably uncanny: commercials for… Continue reading Animated Weeds and Supernatural Pesticides
Tag: animism
You Don’t Eat Your Own Kind
My favorite Bizarro comic of recent days involves Mr. Peanut — that dapper mascot of Planter’s nuts — in a scenario that makes plain the inherent contradiction of advertisements that employ cartoon mascots to represent the very same products they sell. What IS the appeal of these imaginary spokespeanuts and mascots and similar characters in… Continue reading You Don’t Eat Your Own Kind
Eyebombing
Here’s a fun form of culture jamming — a very soft and cuddly act of public defacement not unlike smiley face graffiti — that’s picking up attention online this month: “Eyebombing.” “Eyebombing” is the art of sticking “googly eyes” (a.k.a. “wiggly eyes” — the glue-on sort of craft store kind) onto an inanimate object in… Continue reading Eyebombing
Kung Shoe
This Fall 2010 television commercial, Kung Shoe DSW (also archived on their corporate site), uses a clever pastiche of contemporary action and martial arts cinema to advertise Designer Shoe Warehouse‘s “Killer Boots.” It’s cute and funny and obviously an effective, eye-grabbing advertisement for the company, as artfully made as any Jan Svankmajer film. It is… Continue reading Kung Shoe
Living, Breathing…and the Autonomous Movement of Fur
“These adorable pets offer a real pet ownership experience without the hassles and expense. Say goodbye to feedings and vet bills. Say hello to lots of love and cuddles. Perfect Petzzz – the ultimate pet.” — Perfect Petzzz website “It is not a toy,” [VP of Marketing] Clarkson says, “but this is the closest you… Continue reading Living, Breathing…and the Autonomous Movement of Fur
The Oobleck Effect: Living Liquid
Last year, writer Jason Jack Miller shared with me a popular YouTube video of uncanny monsters born by placing a layer of water and cornstarch on a subwoofer. I find myself returning to these videos often, contemplating the animism made possible by the rhythm of sound and the chaos of vibration. This neat effect “animates”… Continue reading The Oobleck Effect: Living Liquid
The Machines of the Isle of Nantes
The Sultan’s Elephant is a giant marionette parade that is so artfully done, it strikes one as uncanny. As I wrote in November, most parade floats have an uncanny appeal, but in this case the doll’s appearance seems much less mechanical (ergo, more organic) than all the visible equipment and support needed to operate it.… Continue reading The Machines of the Isle of Nantes
LOLcats and Digital Doppelgangers
[Images below have been removed from site, 9/2014. The new website for totally looks like” is at http://memebase.cheezburger.com/totallylookslike ] If you don’t already know, LOLcats are artfully captioned photographs of animals, as in the image above. They’re pretty funny, entirely created by the visitors to icanhascheezburger.com (whose domain name refers to one of the first… Continue reading LOLcats and Digital Doppelgangers
Gel Remote: Object Empathy and The Tactile Uncanny
Adbusters # 78 asks “What if design stood up for itself? What if instead of bowing immediately to our demands, design gently pushed back?” In the “Psychodesign” slideshow (by Sarah Nardi), products like Panasonic Design Company‘s experimental “Gel Remote” (above) are framed as a political use of the uncanny, animating the inanimate icons of everyday life in order to… Continue reading Gel Remote: Object Empathy and The Tactile Uncanny
Parade Floats and the Uncanny
Here in the USA, it’s Thanksgiving morning. The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC is just getting started, and while I’ve never been a fan of parades, one can’t deny their significance in both small town culture and in big city holiday fests, alike. The news media treat them like spectator sports. For the… Continue reading Parade Floats and the Uncanny