topos 109 | Consumption

TOPICS

Consumption: People who consume, use things up, then buy new things and dispose of the old – consumption today is much more than the mere satisfying of basic needs. The growth of the world's population and our excessive, “higher, wider, faster” consumption have long since changed the topography of our planet; urban and rural spaces, landscapes, and nature itself are all being economised. Landscapes of consumption – these are rapidly growing megacities, shopping malls and futuristic airports; these are staged realities and the spectacularisation of space. topos 109 examines landscapes of consumption and analyses their dictates and aesthetics.

IN A DELIRIOUS FRENZY
Photographer Karl Davies’ alerting time-lapse short film and still images on landscapes of consumption

LANDSCAPES OF CONSUMPTION
Steven Miles on spaces for consumption, themed spaces and the world of consumer excess

OIL AND URBANISM
Eve Blau on Baku – a metropolis built both on and with oil

MINING AND A SEA OF DIFFICULTIES
How the Swedish picturesque landscape of Oviken is in danger of being exploited by mining

ALPS AS AMUSEMENT PARK
In conversation with geographer and Alpine expert Werner Bätzing on a disappearing cultural landscape

FLORAL LANDSCAPES ON DISPLAY
The “spectacularisation” of plants and blossoms in Japanese flower parks

CONSUMPTION: FACTS & FIGURES

ALL THAT GLITTERS ...
How to perceive New York’s most expensive neighborhood Hudson Yards?

THE CHANGING FACE OF IMMERSION CAPITALISM
If consumer society had a spiritual centre, then it would be Singapore’s Sentosa Island

ABOUT BLACK MIRROR ...
What understanding of “space” offers an answer to the technological or social questions of the future?

SPYING FROM ABOVE?
How does London deal with the conflation of two spheres – commercial and civic?

IN CONVERSATION WITH ADRIAAN GEUZE
About his fight for public accessibility, his confidence in progress and his perception of mass culture

A BOTANICAL WUNDERKAMMMER
How the Jewel at Singapore Changi Airport contributes to the construction of a perfect landscape of consumption

TRASH MOUNTAINS
The photographer Sajjad Hussain has captured everyday occurences at the Bhalswa landfill in penetrating pictures