The 48 Hour T-Shirt
Another Black Friday has come and gone in the United States and here's an offering that simultaneously lampoons consumer culture and offers a limited supply of tees. After all, few have done as good a job as Rob Walker whose book points out out how advertisers' sophisticated sleight of hand has made chumps of us all. Walker has just unveiled the 48 Hour T-Shirt. (Click image for detail.)
Three separate designs—available for 48 hours during three different time-spans—will be featured on Walker's irreverent blog starting today and going until 15 December 2008.
"The aim of the project is to prod consumers to think more about our own behavior, about how we can be manipulated, and about how we manipulate ourselves," writes Walker. "Yes, doing this by way of products may be seen as either ironic, clever, or hypocritical. That's part of the point."
Cleverly, the artists will only produce as many shirts as are pre-ordered thereby eliminating the risk of the waste that is the destructive byproduct of a consumer culture hell-bent on disposable commodities.
Each design has been crafted by a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (including Derek Black and Greg Eckler ) and will be printed on a high-quality American-made t-shirt. So act now! Supplies are limited! Er… you get the idea.
