vienna

gesture. Smoking a pipe in our culture is a useless activity and happens within
the context of meaningful life, but it is not possible to rationalise it. It is a profane
gesture. The tea ceremony, on the other hand, is taken as an example of the
sacral, the “aesthetic gesture”. 335 For Flusser, the absurdity of the sacral gesture
is a necessary condition. 336 We now stop before a shoe shop:
In front of the façade are several tables with shoes on them. The tables are
covered with yellow plastic tablecloths decorated with percentage signs in various
sizes. The show windows are totally covered over with red posters announcing
various reductions in percentage.
The shoes are piled up on the tables like offerings in a temple. The tablecloth
creates a sacred sphere for the shoes. We are certainly not used to seeing
shoes on a tablecloth. Mary Douglas pointed out that shoes are usually not
perceived as impure, but they become impure as soon as they are put on the
dining table. 337 The seasonal sale places the goods outside their normal context
of purity. The creation of impurity has to be added to the list of strategies
used for staging the seasonal sale. This aspect is mirrored in the next shop on
our shopping street:
The huge windows of this fashion retailer are totally closed off. A red nontransparent
film covers the window’s entire surface. Written in huge white letters is:
“SCHLUSS-VERKAUF”. 338 The words are slightly inclined, making them look as if
they were toppling.
The shop of an international fashion brand is radically changed. The transparency
of the show windows has been banished by darkness. Anthony Vidler points
out that darkness has been frequently used in architecture to create anxiety. After
all, darkness prevents people, things and truths from being perceived. 339 The loss
of display creates an effect that Vidler calls the uncanny and it is like the loss of
the traditional façades in modern architecture. Many people are still not happy
about this development. We now pass by the next shop without a window display.
The show window consists of several glass panels held by a black frame. Posters
are used to create the effect of a wall. They go from the floor up to eye level and
are as wide as the glass panels. It is a repetition of the same information: “SALE –70%”.
The writing on the white posters is printed in red. The graphic design of the information
is cold; in fact, the white area in the letter “A” is designed like a snow crystal.
335 Flusser (1994:181).
336 A summary of literature based on the development of the term ritual in design theory and consumer research from the
1980s onwards is given by Gruendl (2005).
337 Douglas (1970:48).
338 ”Final Sale”.
339 Vidler (1992:169).
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