Claes Oldenburg and Consumer Culture

The idea of human beings as consumers first took shape before World War 1,

although the post World War 2 period is often associated with the the beginning of consumerism.

This expansion was closely linked to industrial mass production, economic recovery,

and the rise of advertising, which collectively reshaped everyday life and individual

identity. Consumption increasingly became a way to define social status, personal desire,

and cultural belonging. Consumerism is defined as the preoccupation of society with the acquisition

of consumer goods. Among the different societal issues that this notion conveys,

are ecological and political concerns. Environmental degradation, overproduction, and the manipulation