The Aisle’s Momentum, Spent for You

Lecture 5 — SLOP2236

The endcap spends momentum it didn’t earn.

Borrowed momentum

  • the endcap takes the speed you were already carrying down the aisle
  • and spends it on a decision you hadn’t planned to make
  • that’s the whole trick, and it works whether you notice it or not

Any elements, no matter where they are taken from, can serve in making new combinations.

— Guy Debord and Gil J Wolman, A User’s Guide to Détournement

Détournement, worked

  • definition — turning an existing sign against its own intention
  • method — take one endcap apart, then rebuild its message backwards
  • not vandalism — a counter-sign, aimed at the same shoppers the original was aimed at

Before next week

  • photograph one endcap on your next store visit — don’t buy from it yet
  • name what it was selling, and what made it feel urgent
  • decide whether that urgency was true, and bring your answer