Devolution to the Lowbrow

The illusion of a carefree life, childhood, living off the grid, traveling the open road, the idea of having no encumbrances - these are the new fantasies.

Recently, Trader Joe’s was serving PBJ’s at their sampling counter (Peanut, Butter and Jelly sandwiches - a childhood favorite for generations of American kids.) A “crunchy granola” head sporting a bicycle helmet in the store - trying to be “cool” said, “Oh, that is so low class, but I guess it is Trader Joe‘s peanut butter.” Actually being a granola-head is - so yesterday and she missed the whole point. Trader Joe’s has become a cult classic and has become one of America's highest grossing retail store with virtually no advertising by being on target with the zeitgeist. The next week they were serving grilled cheese sandwiches – they understand the “tastes” of the future well.

Goat cheese and brie are so yesterday, luxury items are appropriating the gritty tastes and visual language of the lowbrow cultures to the extreme – pbj’s, comics, the ghetto, old waterfronts, and decaying manufacturing sites – the unseen and disappearing places in first world cultures.

• Hoodie’s have gone from gangs camouflage to chairs.
• Cheap plastic flowers adorn the bicycle of a “street” lady in New York, then inexplicably and simultaneously they appear in a chic boutique window in the Meatpacking district and covering the façade of the Copper-Hewitt- what was once the premier design museum in the US. This begs the question: “Is the Cooper-Hewitt loosing it or are they just trend forward?” Their facade trimming is certainly not nearly as sophisticated as the Torte Boontje florals seen recently at Christmas in all the “Targee” stores.
• If you channel surf at all in the American media market, you will eventually see the laborers taking apart decaying ships in the ports off Bangladesh. Is this where the Dornbracht designers (subliminally) got their ideas? Rust and decay finishes are increasingly seen in interiors.
• McDonald’ and other corporate logo colors are becoming so ubiquitous that people now comfortably wear these color even when not working there.