Totems of Capital

In his book, Capitalist Realism, the late Mark Fisher likened capitalism to the “Thing” in John Carpenter’s film of the same name. Capitalism, he wrote, is “a monstrous, infnitely plastic entity, capable of metabolizing and absorbing anything with which it comes into contact.”

Filipino artist Mideo Cruz shares Fisher’s vivid, horrific description of capitalism. His se- ries, “Totem Poles” (2019), which consists of various found objects and pop culture im- ages sculptured to look like sacred symbols of worship or as literal totems, is, as Fisher might describe it, “a strange hybrid of the ultra-modern and the archaic.”

Images of popular icons and fictional characters, such as Disney’s Mickey Mouse, Jollibee, Sesame Street’s Big Bird among others, are stacked like colorful candles melting above other colorful melting candles, made to appear like figures or emblems that are usually seen on an altar of worship.

“I’ve always been fascinated with pop icons and the concept of worship,” Mideo says. “What I’m doing is basically an experimentation on the process of transformation. It is an inquiry on how symbols of worship are being transformed.” In his observation, inspired by the works of Naomi Klein and Eric Schlosser, capitalism has created new gods, “neo deities,” in the form of pop culture and brands.

Extract from an article in the Manila Bulletin January 2020. Read full article.