#100: Chasing the zietgiest_EP1
Seeing how we feel so we can think clearly how to act
If stories are us, zeitgeist is how we feel. Chasing the zeitgeist is important then. It is always good to know how we feel. But how do we discover our collective mood? That’s easier than you think. Same intuitive process that you apply in those milliseconds of meeting someone. You ‘read’ what you see as paragraphs and paragraphs of meaning. Cultural Studies just gives us a structured methodology to unpick that process.
So based on signs up around my house here’s how we feel this week:
Blue edges. Color science says that is calming. Clean. Pure like a propane flame. Lots of white, negative space? Things are feeling ordered now. Zen-like. Minimalist and safe.
It’s easy to mistake the tagline as a joke but these storytellers are stone-cold assassins guided by mountains of data from your Facebook page and phones. We’re afraid. That’s what they’ve been told by very glossy 250-page presentations. Desperate for control. At sea surrounded by all this uncertainty and the myth they’re offering us is cheap tranquility a cashier’s ‘ping’ away.
How do a few 40-something Durban billionaires sell their iKhoka swift card machine?
With orange. It’s the chicken soup of colour science. Nourishing. Warm like a fire. Joyful like a harvest. Clouds? That’s Renaissance art made obvious with Michaelango’s, “Creation of Adam” pose.
Myth these storytellers are pushing? It’s abstract but smart, “your new heaven is side hustle away”. Why is it working? It is the perfect reaction to the truth that we are living in hell. And, unlike the advert above, this offer might actually bring some order to our chaotic worlds. Every SA economics worth their salt knows empowering SME’s and ‘formalising’ the informal economy is the only answer to our recession economy and rising youth unemployment.
Let’s focus our analysis on one object, the tie. Sure, it is just a piece of woven silk but think how we ‘read’ ties almost universally as signs of professionalism and power. Hilariously it is easy to argue the tie is also one of the strongest symbols of Western imperialism. Unbridled capitalism. And if you wanted to, you could even wave it as the flag of neoliberalism. And that’s the problem with this image, like the ANC it doesn’t make sense anymore. It’s conflicted and confused. Full of overwhelming contradiction.
Cyril Ramphosa's net worth is estimated at R6.4 billion.15,000,000 South Africans live on less than R760 a month. 60% of South Africans are zero earners and the rich, mostly new wealth thanks to BEE, earn up to 1,338 more than the poor. And all that makes Cryil the new poster boy of South African inequality. And in this image he’s flaunting it like a televangelist pitching for a second Learjet …??!
And that’s what hurts right there, the blind exploitation of our very sacred story. But thankfully stories told by two-faced people only land for so long and sooner or later we wake up and that makes us mad.
This game we are playing is called semiotic analysis and it assumes things can be understood (which is not widely accepted). The smart people who gave it structure claim the best way to understand something complex is to carefully examine its opposite. So without further ado it’s onto the DA:
Again, let’s keep this simple and focus on one object, the “Rescue KZN” graphic. At face value it’s in a red block. Red = danger. But this red is not pure like the EFF banner, it has some black in (easy to see in the blue). Black is generally bad. Forboding. Dangerous especially mixed with red…
Let’s explore the shape. Normally “danger” signs have rounded edges to calm us down, but this one has angles like axes. That might be because Western cultures champions sharp edges as progressive thanks to architects like Bauhaus and Brutalism. African design, by contrast, is interested in circles (think of rural huts or the ancient stone cities in Mpumalanga).
And then there’s the drop shadow. In design school drop shadows are taught as a technique to make something feel dynamic by simulating the sun. If that is how this shadow is being used this sun is harsh. Midday in Sudan harsh.
The story the DA is pushing? We’re capable of rescuing KZN. Which of course they are on paper and practice; but the darkened red, sharp edges and black shadow make the story feel aggressive, even dangerous. An intense reaction given the violent abuse from the ANC. The problem is that doesn’t change how it feels, and how it feels is always valid.
My mood wasn’t great this morning. I woke up at 5:15am with my son screaming “Daadddy!! I want my miillllkk! Dadddy…”. It was a long night spent mostly on the couch with our three week old so I stumbled down the passage almost kicking the cat meowing at my heels. The point is I wasn’t the best version of myself at the breakfast table and I’m grateful the little voice of experience in my head told me so because I really, really wanted to shout at someone…
And our collective mood? Summarised by the signs above we feel afraid. Vulnerable. Angry and wary about the world outside our windows. And knowing our mood helps, possibly a lot. We vote tomorrow to determine the future of our country and there are a lot of swirling stories in our heads. So maybe one of the best things we can do before we make our mark on the next four years is find a quiet corner and thoughtfully discern for ourselves what we really need to do?
Hope you have such a blessed week.
PS: If you found this helpful forward it to friends and families. Sadly we’re never the best version of ourselves when we are afraid, cornered, angry, and suspicious… And what tomorrow demands of us is our best … very, very best
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