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an iconoclastic monotheism, which destroys all other gods. 178
During the seasonal sales, the show window becomes a sacred
space in the commodity cosmos. For example, through the
disappearance of the price tag or the disappearance of the
commodity itself! But even the disappearance of normative
beauty is a significant sign of the holy time represented in
the show windows of the high streets. This fact, that continues
to be a blind spot in the Marxist critique of commodity fetishism,
has been expressed by Bolz in more modern words:
“The enthroning of commodities, their adoration as fetish,
in keeping with rituals of fashion, is the only content of the
capitalist cult.” 179
The gaze into the seasonal sale windows shows that
worshipping beautifully presented commodities is not the only
capitalistic cult. While Christian celebrations of Easter dramatise
the death of the Son of God and his subsequent resurrection,
the seasonal sale dramatises the death of the seasonal fashion
collection. By the same token, while the Christian festival is consciously
dramatised with a set of striking images, the seasonal
sale depends on the instinctive skills of the window dresser. A
similarity between the two “monotheistic” dramatisations lies
in their use of “mannequins”. Sculptures were used to dramatise
the death of Jesus on Good Friday. Freedberg describes models
of such sculptures in his study on the power of images. One
of them is a sculpture of Jesus holding a cross with moveable
arms, 180 another one even has moveable arms so that Christ
taken from the cross can be wrapped in a shroud and placed
on the altar. On Easter Sunday, the crucifix thus vanishes to
dramatise the resurrection. 181 The expressions of the mannequins
in the fashion show window are comparable to those of their
religious ancestors. Dramatising the death of the fashion collection
requires that the mannequins are removed from the window,
dressed in special ritual garments or undressed altogether.
The performative action with the crucifix follows the canon of
religious paintings of the time and dramatises the images documenting
the death of Christ. While these images are well-known
and present for the idolaters, the images behind the dramatisa-
178 Mitchell (1987:200).
179 Bolz (2002:65)*.
180 Freedberg (1991:244).
181 Ibid., p. 286.
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