Films 2001

2001

Die Schöpfer der Einkaufswelten
The Creators of the Shopping Worlds
Shopping is an everyday cultural act; it is inevitable, taken for granted. Entering into the world of shopping - the world of shopping malls - can be a Dantean voyage into hell or a redeeming ceremony of Communion. Everyone is familiar with this experience and knows what a mall looks like. This self-evident phenomenon is, however, the result of a highly complex process. The designing of shopping malls is overseen by an army of planners, managers and scientists: there are consultants, re-launch analysts, a central association, mall magazines. 6000 guests and laboratories attended an annual convention in Las Vegas at which such questions were investigated as where the gaze of a customer falls and how a "spontaneous" purchase can be induced. Farocki shows how mall producers look at malls when they want to find out, for example, how passers-by move, where they stop and where they reach for an article. He adds these images to the everyday ones - and gives them a magical charge. (Antje Ehmann)